Animalistic
by Mighty Lion
Summary: I know, the title isn't the most original thing you've probably ever seen, but I didn't really think of one. This is the story of Serena, a new student to Sky High. She comes in as a junior, and somehow ends up helping the gang save the school. Warren/OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I decided to type this out one night, it wouldn't stay out of my head. I may turn it into a series in its own, or have it follow the movie, not sure which one yet. Reviews would be wonderful **

**Oh, and I don't own Sky High, but any extra characters are miiine **

Chapter 1: School for Supers

Today was Serena's first day of high school. She woke up early, too anxious to sleep any longer, and lied in bed thinking about how her day was going to be. _'Hnn. I start school today. It should be interesting.'_ But Serena wasn't going to any ordinary high school. No, she was going to Sky High, the school for kids with super powers. Although she had super powers, neither of Serena's parents had powers themselves. She could shape-shift into either a wolf or a lion, and sprout giant wings, like an angel. When she shifted, her body would grow to the size of a small elephant, so she could turn into 2 monstrous animals. Serena had just discovered her powers late last year, she had terrified her class when she got in a fight and got so mad that her face morphed into that of a wolf's. After that, she was pulled out of school and seen by a specialist, and was trained to control her shape-shifting power. One night over the summer she had been dreaming about flying, and woke up in the morning to find she had a giant pair of snowy white wings popping out from between her shoulder blades. So she would be going into Sky High as a junior.

Serena figured it was time to start getting ready, so she got up, brushed her teeth, and showered. She decided to wear a pair of tight, faded blue pants, her '_As I Lay Dying'_ band shirt, and all black Converse high-tops with red suspenders hanging just above her knees. She looked into her full length mirror to check her outfit and hair. Serena was naturally tan, and had multi-colored hair down to her elbows. Her hair was a mix of brown and black, with a streak of blonde that she had been meaning to bleach white, but never got around to. Her eyes were a cross between molten gold and bright yellow, reflecting the animals inside her. She wore no jewelry except a hoop in her right nostril and an industrial bar in her left ear. Serena headed downstairs to eat before flying to school. She found her mom was making pancakes and bacon for breakfast. "Good morning, honey. You excited for school today?" Serena took a seat at the table after getting herself some orange juice. "Yeah, I suppose it should be alright. I'm just eager to start using my powers and see what other kids can do." Her mom turned and set some pancakes in front of her. "Well you'll have to tell me all about it when you get home. And if you make new friends. That would be nice for a change." Serena smirked as she started eating before replying, "We'll see about that. If I didn't even fit in at normal high school, will it really be better at a school for kids like me?"

Her mom sighed and said, "I have no idea, and you know it. But at least these kids will understand where you're coming from." "Yeah, that's true.." Serena ate quickly finished her food and thanked her mom before grabbing her backpack and heading to the door. "I'll see you later mom, bye!" Her mom called, "Wait! Are you going to take the bus or fly?" "I'm gonna fly there." Her mother sighed, "Do you know how to get there?" She smirked and said, "I'll fly above the bus so I won't get lost, ok?" "Alright, have a nice day." "I will, mom. Bye!" And with that, Serena turned and walked out the door and down her street for a while before making sure no one was looking, and felt her wings sprout from her back. She quickly took off, beating her wings hard before finding a breeze to take her higher. Serena turned her head and looked at her wings in admiration and pride. With a wingspan of 15 feet altogether, they were huge compared to her 5'5" height. She flew around for a while, enjoying the feel of the wind on her face before spotting a bus going off an unfinished ramp. It dropped a few feet before jet engines popped out from beneath it, and the bus went shooting off into the clouds. Serena quickly chased after it and easily kept up with it once she caught up with the vehicle. She followed the bus until it landed in front of a huge suspended school in the clouds. Serena flew up, higher than the roof of the school, and quickly folded her wings in as she shot down like an arrow. She laughed inwardly as she felt the wind blowing her hair back, making it swirl against her pure white wings.

Quickly gaining speed, Serena got closer and closer to the school's front grounds. She spotted a group of kids coming off the bus she had followed, looking around in wonder. _'Most likely freshman. I'll have some fun with these kids.' _She smirked as she quickly unfolded her wings, swooping down right over their heads, brushing some of them with her wings as they ducked down and screamed in fright. She landed and let her wings unfold with a shake of her head. They gasped behind her as they took in the length of her appendages. Serena let her wings fold themselves back into her body before walking into the school. She wandered the halls, ignoring kids looking at her and others who were showing off their powers. Once she found the principal's office, she walked inside to talk to the receptionist. "Excuse me, but I'm new here and need my schedule." "The receptionist looked up at her and smiled before saying, "Hello dear, can I have your name?" "Serena Ange, I'm coming in as a junior." The woman looked for a file before finding it and speaking as she looked through it, "Hmm.. You just discovered your powers. You'll have to go to Power Placement with the freshman, to see if you'll be placed in the Hero class or Hero Support class. When you're done, come back here and I'll have your class schedule made up." Serena smiled and thanked the woman before walking out.

She found the gym and walked in just as a bright, shining comet flew in and landed in the shape of a woman in front of the freshman. She introduced herself as Principal Powers and gave them a speech about what they would be learning at Sky High and what was expected of them. Serena hung out near the doors, away from the rest of the group, barely listening. Once the principal left, a man in gym shorts, a hat, and jacket came out and introduced himself as Coach Boomer, a.k.a. "Sonic Boom". She sighed and heard him out, liking his attitude and use of the word, "whiner babies" to call kids who complained about where they were placed. He first called up a nerdy-looking boy, who turned out to be able to change into a rock giant. He was put in the Hero class. Then he called up a kid that was put in the Hero Support class. Soon, Coach Boomer picked her out, standing about 8 feet behind everyone else. Serena walked around the group and onto the platform. "Alright, what's your name and what's your power." He spoke to her. She glanced at him and said, "My name's Serena Ange, and I have two powers. I can shape-shift and fly." He nodded and said, "Show me." She smirked and let her body expand, growing golden fur everywhere, her face stretching, muscles and bones breaking and re-forming themselves. She looked down through golden eyes at everyone staring up at her. She bared her massive fangs and roared; sure it would echo throughout the school. Everyone ducked down and covered their ears in fright. Then she shook her mane and morphed her body, her muscles expanding again, but this time her fur turning pitch black, she grew a muzzle and was soon looking through the bright yellow eyes of a wolf. She crouched down; level to everyone else and snarled deep in her throat, ears folded back and canines bared ferociously, hackles of her fur standing on end. One kid was so scared he melted into a puddle. Serena then turned back into her human form, shrinking and losing her advanced senses. The coach looked at her in admiration, a smile on his face. She glanced at him again, the group of nervous kids in front of her, and smirked as her wings shot out from her back, unfolding to their huge length. She took off, flying around the gym twice before landing back on the platform. Boomer looked said "Hero!" just as she landed. Serena touched down, retracted her wings, and walked to the gym doors. "Just where do you think you're going?" Boomer called out to her, sending sonic waves towards her. She waited till they subsided and spoke while still walking to the double doors, saying, "I'm coming in as a junior, I have to go to the office to pick up my schedule." She walked out and went towards the office.

Once she picked up her schedule and a map of the school, Serena stopped in the hallway to look at it. Her classes were:

_Junior level History of Super Heroes and Villains_

_Junior level Mad Science_

_Junior level Undercover Strategies_

_Lunch_

_No Fifth-to juniors and seniors only_

_Save the Citizen-to all grade levels and tracks_

She quickly followed the map to her first class, knocking before quietly opening the door and stepping in. The teacher and students looked at her, and she stared back at them with a look of indifference on her face. "You must be the new student, am I correct?" asked the teacher. He looked to be middle-aged, with brown hair and a normal looking body. The thing that instantly told of his abnormality were his eyes, they were pure white. No pupil, color, or veins, just absolute white. She said, "Yes, my name is Serena Ange." "Well, do you mind telling me what your powers are? And why you're coming in as a..junior?" He asked while looking at the schedule she'd handed to him when he had motioned for her to go to his desk. "I can shape-shift and fly. I just discovered my powers late last year, when I was in regular high school." She liked to keep things as basic as possible when explaining things, and gave no details unless pushed. "And just what can you shift into?" "A giant lion, and a wolf." He smiled, "Ahh, so you were the cause of alarm earlier." She glanced at him, only nodding her head. Even though she seemed aloof, the man kept a smile on his face. "I'm Mr. Jameson, Serena. If you could find a seat somewhere, I would like to continue with going over the rules." Serena scanned the room and found a seat near the back.

As Mr. Jameson talked to the class about the rules ("No using your powers outside of class." "No fighting on school grounds." "No _destroying_ school grounds." Etc.) Serena sat and paid attention, not bothering to introduce herself to anyone around her. When class was over she followed everyone out the door and found her second class, Mad Science with Mr. Medulla. She walked in and took a seat in the back table, thinking she would just do this with every class. No one sat next to her; some kids looked at her confusedly, wondering if they had seen her before or not. One boy did go up to her though, he cheerfully said, "Hi, are you new here?" She looked at him before raising an eyebrow and asking, "What do you think?" He seemed put off by her reply, obviously not used to someone with her attitude. "Erm, I'll take that as a yes. What's your name? Mine's Eric Straang. What's your power?" "My name's Serena. I can shape-shift and fly." When she offered no explanation and didn't bother asking what his own power was, he lightly laughed and said, "Well, I hope you like it here at Sky High, I know I've had good times at this school." She decided to be polite and actually looked at him, saying, "Thanks, I do too." He smiled; proud he got a positive reaction from her and went off to a table with a friend.

Serena chuckled inwardly, thinking he was probably the type to be so cheerful it got to the point where it was annoying. She frowned in her mind at the thought of being around a person like that all the time. When the class was all seated and the bell rang, Mr. Medulla stepped into the room. He wore a white lab coat and had an abnormally huge head. He soon started going over the rules, just as her first period teacher had. Again, Serena was sitting alone, but instead of at a single desk she was at a table for two. "Ah, Mr. Peace, how kind of you to join us. Late, and on the first day of school, I hope this isn't a prelude to the rest of the year." Serena looked towards the door to see a tall boy had walked in. He had long dark hair, with red streaks. He wore ripped pants, a red shirt, fingerless leather gloves, a leather jacket, and heavy boots. The boy Medulla had called "Peace" didn't look like he lived up to his name at all. He didn't say anything as he walked past Medulla and to the empty table next to Serena's. Medulla asked, "Why were you late?" He glanced at him and said, "My schedule got messed up, I was in the office getting it fixed. Here." He handed the teacher a note proving what he had just told Mr. Medulla was true. The man sighed and turned around, getting back to his lecture. Serena gave the boy a sidelong look before turning back to attention. It seemed like most everyone avoided him. When Mad Science was over, Serena saw students part down the hall, making way for the leather-clad Peace. She found her next class and figured it to be the same one Peace had been going to. Lo and behold, he was in the back corner seat when she walked in. The brown-haired girl walked to the corner seat on the other side of the room and sat down.

He was looking at her; she could see him staring from the corner of her eye. She turned to face him, curious as to what his face looked like. Peace had a tan face, dark brown eyes, full lips and a strong jaw line. All in all, he would have been considered extremely attractive if he didn't go out of his way to avoid people. Serena figured most of the female student body pictured him as the "hot bad boy", the one everyone secretly wants but would never admit. She raised an eyebrow at him, and waited for him to say something from the other side of the room. When he copied her movement, she turned her head and watched as kids came in and sat down. She ignored him and everyone else around her, until the teacher came in. She was of average height, wearing a dark pinstripe suit jacket with a matching pencil skirt. The woman had pitch black hair with a streak of pure white on either side of her head. As she looked around the class, checking to see if everyone was in a seat, Serena thought, _'That boy is strange. Very strange.'_ The teacher introduced herself as Mrs. Falkner, she told them she had the ability to control the weather. This woman was cheerful and excited, just like the rest of the class. She asked everyone to move their desks so that they were in a circle and all facing each other. The students did as they were told, and Serena noticed there were two empty seats on either side of Peace, before the students sat next to each other again. Mrs. Falkner then asked everyone to go into the middle of the giant circle and introduce themselves, tell what their power was, likes and dislikes, show them a small demonstration of their power(s). Each kid eagerly got up and introduced themselves when it was their turn, and showed what skill(s) they had. When it was Serena's turn, she silently got up and went to the middle of the room. She took a breath and said, "Hello, my name's Serena Ange. I'm new here because I just discovered my powers. I like to read, listen to music and travel. I can shape-shift and fly." Mrs. Falkner smiled at her and asked, "What can you shift into?" "A lion and a wolf." Some kids ooh'ed at that. "What kind of wings do you have?" piped up a kid wearing blue. Serena looked at him and said, "Angel wings." He grinned, "Can you show us?" She frowned and shook her head in decline. Students started saying things like, "Why not? Everyone else has shown their powers!" and "It's not fair." Mrs. Falkner told Serena if she couldn't show her wings, then to at least please shift. Serena mutely nodded her head and began to shift into her wolf form. She once again welcomed the familiar feeling of her muscles expanding and contracting, bones breaking and re-forming themselves, her face elongating. When she opened her sharp eyes, everyone stared at her and clapped. She turned back into her human form and went to her desk in silence. Soon almost everyone had demonstrated their powers and spoke about themselves.

The only one left was Peace. He got up with a sigh and went into the circle. He glared at everyone in the room before saying, "My name's Warren Peace. I like music and books. I'm a pyrokinetic." "Everyone knows that, remember the fight he got into last year?" whispered the girl to Serena's right to another girl near her. Mrs. Falkner shushed her and asked Warren- '_What an interesting pun for a name.'_- to show his power. He flicked his wrists and flames shot up his forearms, he slowly took the flames further up his arms until his entire arms and shoulders were covered in flickering flames. He looked right at home with the fire, and with another flick of his wrists, he powered down and went back to his seat. Mrs. Falkner got up and spoke to the class with a huge smile, "I'm glad I got to meet you all today, I'm sure we'll have a great year together. Have a great rest of the day and I'll see you tomorrow!" The bell rang just as she finished and everyone smiled and jumped out of their seats, eager to go to lunch. Serena was the last to leave class, even with Warren lagging behind everyone else. She walked down the hallway and into the stream of students going to the cafeteria or outside to eat. The young girl decided she would find an empty table to sit at and eat. Serena found one and sat down near the edge, pulling out her book and lunch. She began to quietly eat and read a new book she had just started, "Hairstyles of the Damned". As people walked by she heard murmurs of, "Who's that girl?" and "Why is she sitting with _Warren Peace_?" Serena raised an eyebrow at that and looked around, she thought she had this table all to herself, only to find that on the other end was Warren Peace, also reading. She debated whether or not she should say something to him, but decided against it. Serena went back to her book in silence until she was interrupted by the bell ringing. Over a loudspeaker, she heard a voice say, "Freshman and sophomores head to class. Juniors and seniors go outside, the cafeteria is now closed." Serena threw away her trash, picked up her backpack and book and went outside to the front grounds. Fellow juniors and older seniors were lounging around on the grass or running around, playfully using their powers against each other. Serena found a big shady tree to sit under and continue reading. She did so until someone came up to her and stuck out a hand. She looked up in slight annoyance; it was the same kid from Mad Science. "Hey there, what's up?" Serena said, "I'm reading. You're blocking my sun." He laughed lightly as he had before and moved out the way, but instead of leaving like she expected him to; he sat down next to her. "How do you like it here at Sky High so far?" "It's alright. My classes are interesting, to say the least. But I don't get why people keep looking at me." The last part was true, all day whenever Serena walked in the halls or into a classroom, people would follow her with their eyes and then exchange whispers with friends or whoever was standing around them. He chuckled and said, "Some freshman was talking about what you did during Power Placement this morning. Said he nearly wet himself from being so scared when you roared. It echoed around the school for a good 2 minutes. He pointed you in the hall at one point and since then, people want to see what you can do." Eric finished with a shrug of his shoulders. He smiled and said, "Maybe someone will challenge you to Save the Citizen." She gave him a look and he immediately explained. "It's a sort of contest, you get teamed up with someone, and you choose whether you want to be the Heroes or Villains. You and your partner have to save the citizen and immobilize your villains in 3 minutes." He added, "It's basically a way of training yourself and seeing how you work with different powers. It can get interesting." She nodded her head and replied, "And the whole school watches right? How do they choose who will fight?" Eric answered, "Boomer just chooses at random and tell them to choose their opponent. And yeah, basically the whole school watches." Eric heard someone shouting his name and soon left Serena to her book again. She read until it was time for the last class of the day.

Everyone had to change into a gym uniform, just in case they were called on to go into the arena. Serena sat at the top of the bleachers in blue shorts and an orange muscle shirt. She watched as one boy with stretchable striped arms punched his opponent in the face, sending him backwards and away from the citizen he was supposed to be saving. The clock ran out, and the striped boy high-fived with his partner, a boy who could shoot lasers from his eyes. Boomer told them to choose their next opponent and if they wanted to be Heroes or Villains. They quickly answered "Villains." and Boomer said, "What a surprise." They looked around the stadium of students, some eager to fight and other hoping they wouldn't get chosen. Serena sighed with impatience and wondered if they could offer to fight. The boy with stretching abilities suddenly called out, "That girl with the brown hair and yellow eyes. New girl!" She raised her brow at that statement and silently went down the steps as his partner called out, "We want Peace, too!" Serena went to the locker room to change into protective armor and then walked out into the protective arena. There was a dummy suspended over some sort of machine that would shred it to pieces like it had the other one. She looked over at Warren who nodded at her and got ready. When Boomer yelled for them to start, one of the boys-who she found out after was named Thomas-started shooting laser beams from his eyes all around. Warren threw a fireball at him and got the boy square in the chest, sending him flying against the wall. The boy with stretching powers-Lash, was his name-was proving to be difficult, Serena soon found. He wrapped his huge, rubbery arms around her body, squeezing her. She quickly changed into a giant lion and bit into his arm, but not enough to draw a lot of blood. He yelped and dropped her in surprise, and Warren took the opportunity to hurl a fireball at the guy's bitten hands. He stretched out of the way and stretched his arms again to flip Warren into the air. Lash held him suspended in air before dropping him. Serena quickly changed to her human form and sprouted her wings, flapping them to get into the air. She caught Warren, but the impact sent them diving towards the arena floor. Serena had to think fast, so she tucked her wings against her body, sending them faster through the air, until they were a few feet from the floor. Serena pulled out of the dive with a monstrous flap of her wings, sending Lash against the arena wall and crumpling to the floor in a heap. She soared to the dummy and pulled it free just as it was dropped into the death trap. Serena landed as well as she could with Warren over her shoulder and the dummy in her arms. She tossed the dummy aside and crouched over so Warren slid off her; she looked at him, silently asking if he was ok. He nodded his head and shook her hand before walking off to the boys' locker room. They had beaten Lash and Thomas with 30 seconds left on the clock. Students cheered at their win, but Serena didn't pay any attention to the noise, she silently went to the locker room to change back into her regular clothes.

Soon everyone was either flying away from school or going to wait for the busses. Serena walked to the edge of school and didn't stop until she fell over. She dove through the air, arms tucked into her sides, head straight forward. She called forth her wings and pulled out of her dive, and was soon floating through the sky, riding the breeze. Serena waited until a bus flew by her, and then followed it home. She hovered over her backyard before retracting her wings and dropping into a tree, catching a branch and using the momentum to flip herself out of the tree and onto the grass below. She walked in through the back door and went into the kitchen to get a snack. Neither of her parents was home, so Serena took the time to relax by herself. She watched tv while eating a sandwich, but soon got bored of that. So she went upstairs to her room and plugged her iPod into her speakers. Soon '_Relentless Chaos'_ by Miss May I was blasting around her room. Serena sighed in contentedness and lied down on her bed, tired from using her powers so much in one day. After listening to music for a few minutes, Serena soon fell into a deep sleep.

**A/N: Kind of a shoddy way to end it, but it's almost 11 and I have school in the morning. Soo, what do you guys think? I decided I was going to make it movie-based, and add more, since Homecoming is early in the school year-as everyone knows. The band shirt (**_**As I Lay Dying) **_**Serena wears is an actual band, one of my favorites. So is Miss May I. I'm thinking I'll have the next chapter be from Serena's PoV, to change it up a bit. It may switch between hers, Warren's and the others' as the story goes on. Any feedback is welcome! **

**P.S. 'Ange' is French for 'Angel' so Serena's name means 'Serene angel'. Just a little note I thought to put in :P until next time!**


	2. AntiSocial Lion

**A/N: Sorry about the way the last chapter was formatted, I didn't realize it would turn out that way until it was too late :/ anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter too! Review would be amazingly fantastical**

**Chapter 2: Anti-Social Lion **

…**Serena's POV…**

I flew to school the next morning, hoping I wouldn't have to go through that blasted Save the Citizen sport again. It really did a number on me; I'd never used my powers so much in one day. Not to mention Lash squeezing me, I almost couldn't breathe. As I landed, a million things were going through my mind. '_I've got all my stuff for my classes. Hopefully today we'll actually be doing something instead of going over the damn rules. Hnn..should I start talking to people today? At least try to make friends, for Mom?'_

I tried to find my locker, and I finally did after a few minutes of wandering. It was in the Junior hallway, maybe I could introduce myself to someone with a locker near mine? As I walked up the hall, I noticed at one section there was a bunch of people veering off to the right, as if to avoid someone at a locker. I peeked through the crowds of people scrambling to get out of the way, and saw it was Warren Peace. _'Why are people so afraid of him? I don't see anything wrong with the guy. Besides the fact that he could roast you alive if he felt like it.'_

I soon found my locker and put the things I wouldn't need into it, and then had to look for my first period again. _'Crap.' _I said to myself as the late bell rang, '_I thought I'd be able to do this without the dang map.'_ I fished it out of my backpack and turned down the right hallway, and walked into class just as the bell rang. Sitting down quickly, I hoped Jameson wouldn't notice me. Thankfully he had been going through his desk when I walked in, so I was home free. Class was pretty boring; I just sat there and doodled around my notes on famous Heroes of the 1850's. When the bell rang I jolted to the door, thankful that I didn't have to talk to anyone so far.

Going into Medulla's class, I purposefully sat at the table Warren had sat at yesterday, to see if he would sit next to me. He walked in; I guess not knowing I was sitting at his table until he looked down at me. Looking into his cold, dark eyes, I thought he would tell me to move or threaten me somehow. Instead, he just sat at the table I had been at yesterday. I grumbled in annoyance, that was the window seat. We were early so I went to his table and quietly asked, "Trade tables back?" He glanced at me and nodded his head, getting up to go to his self-proclaimed "territory". I got my stuff and went to the window seat in silent joy.

Medulla went on about different types of ray and lasers, and what the difference was between the two. I didn't think there was one, but hey I guess I was wrong. We were partnered in a project to build a fully-functional heat ray. Since we got to choose, everyone quickly went with their friend or someone they vaguely knew in the class. I looked over to Warren; he was the only person I even knew _of_. I walked up to him again and tapped his shoulder, asking, "Do you want to be partners for this thing?" He sighed and agreed to it. We went to my table and quietly read the instructions, then began to work. Since I don't know anything about lasers or rays or whatever-you-call-ems, I just passed him the pieces and he built it.

We were done within a few minutes, and didn't really talk much when we finished. Medulla came over to us and asked us to test it out. "Just point it at Warren, it won't hurt him at all." I followed Medulla's instructions and pointed the thing at Warren, and slowly pulled the trigger. He caught on fire for all of 5 seconds before absorbing it into himself. When I stared at him in confusion, Medulla said, "It's what comes with being a pyrokinetic. Maybe it'd be better to test it on you, Ms. Ange?" I just nodded my head and handed the ray to Peace. He gave me a dull look and pointed it at my stomach. I nodded my head, getting ready, and he pulled the trigger. The ray hit me, and I instinctively flinched, but didn't show it. The fire spread up my stomach to cover my entire torso, and then was sucked into my body. As I watched it, I thought to myself, '_What the hell is going on? I don't have any powers related to fire.'_

Both Warren and Mr. Medulla looked at me in astonishment; they hadn't been expecting it either. Warren flared his nostrils and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, and Medulla looked at me with mild surprise. He looked me over and said, mostly to himself, "It seems we have another fire-related power in this class. Or…no, never mind. Silly of me to think that." He walked off to check on other students' progress. I looked at Warren, still sort of in surprise and now confused by what the teacher had said. He grunted and went back to his table, sitting down and pulling out a book. I sighed and did the same, trying to get over what had just happened.

By the time lunch came around, I had forgotten about the weird situation that had happened in Mad Science. I sat at the same table I did yesterday, to the opposite side and end of the table from Warren. He looked up at me as I sat down, silently asking me why I was at _his_ table. I just looked at him and turned around, getting my book from my backpack and picking up where I left off. Pretty soon, a pretty girl with red hair, big brown eyes, and a whole lot of green on her introduced herself to me. "Hi, my name's Layla." She said with a big smile on her face and a hand sticking out to shake mine. I looked from her hand to face, that expectant ever-cheerful-type of smile on her face. I sighed and shook her _hand, "My name's Serena. Are you new here too?" I decided I might as well try to make some friends,_ even if this girl seemed a bit..too optimistic. She laughed, "Oh no, I'm a freshman at this school." I inwardly cringed at the word _'freshman'. 'Really? I suppose it'll be alright hanging out with some underclassmen.'_ Curiously, I asked her what her power was. "I can control plants at will."

"That sounds like a pretty cool power. Are you in Hero class?"

"No, I'm in Hero Support. Aka. 'Sidekick' class."

I gave her an incredulous look, "Why? That could easily put you in the Hero class."

She laughed again, "I don't believe in showing my powers unless absolutely necessary; during Power Placement I refused to show them to Boomer so he put in me the other track. This whole system of 'Hero' and 'Hero Support' is completely flawed and fascist.."

Sensing a rant from the flower-girl, I quickly asked, "Do you mind if I ask you a random question?"

Layla shrugged, "Sure, what is it?"

In a hushed tone I asked, "Do you know who Warren Peace is?"

She went wide-eyed and pulled me by arm to another table. "He's the son of Barron Battle, and he's a pyrokinetic from what I've heard. No one talks to him, everyone stays away from him, and because they're afraid he'll turn out just like his dad." I glanced at Warren, who was quietly reading at our-_'Wait, what? 'our'? His table, that's his, I'm just intruding.'_ Table. He didn't look evil to me, scary as hell yeah, but not _evil. _He looked up, and over at me again. I smirked at him and turned to Layla, saying, "I have no idea how people think Warren's gonna turn out like his dad." I've heard of his dad once or twice, I saw on the new how The Commander had finally caught him and landed him in quadruple life sentence. But that was 4 or 5 years ago at the most.

Layla shrugged and said, "That's just how some people are, I guess. I don't think he'll be evil either. He seems kind of nice; if he wasn't so scary I would go up and talk to him." I instantly became angry at her words. _'No, no one else can talk to him. Mine. Wait..what the hell am I thinking again? He's not MINE, he doesn't belong to anyone.'_ I shook my head to get rid of my 'wolfish' instincts. I knew that because of the animals I could transform into, their instincts were a part of me, but they had never shown up in this way.

I thanked her and moved to get up and back to my side of the table, when she grabbed my arm and said, "Do you want to sit with me and my friends? I don't want you to sit alone, I'd feel really bad." I smiled at her, "No thanks, I'm ok. Besides, I'm not alone at my table." Layla followed the direction I was looking in and made a small 'o' shape with her mouth when she saw Warren sitting next to my stuff. My own eyes widened in reaction to that, I hadn't expected him to move, especially not next to me.

I thanked Layla again, and walked over to the table to sit down. But instead of sitting down, I just stood there, not really knowing if I should sit or not. Warren looked up at me and sighed, "Are you gonna sit down or just stand there until lunch is over?" I quickly plopped myself into my seat and picked up my book again to read. His eyes looked at the cover of "Hairstyles of The Damned". I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes and saw him nod his head, as if in approval of my reading choices. I looked at his book; it was one of my favorites, "The Sorrows of Young Werther" by Johann Wolfgang von Geothe. "I love that story, it's so sad but amazing at the same time." I told him quietly. Warren agreed, "Yeah, I'm near the end, when he's writing the letter.." I smiled, remembering how the first time I had read that novel, I had almost cried. "One of the best books ever written, in my opinion." Warren murmured, "Mhmm, I love it, this is my third time reading it."

When lunch was over and the juniors and seniors were kicked out of the cafeteria, I went to sit under the same tree I had sat under yesterday. I sighed in contentedness; so far I was having a good day. I tried to ignore the feeling of dread when I thought about next period, and pushed it to the back of my mind as I did some homework so I'd have less at home. Soon I was finished with all my work and decided to transform, since I hadn't all day. I closed my eyes and felt my muscles stretch and change into the muscles of a lion's. I opened my golden eyes and looked around, taking everything in. I left my backpack under the tree and walked out 2 feet into the sunshine to lie down and have a cat nap. I slumped over onto my stomach and lay sprawled out, my massive body taking up a lot of room. After basking in the sunlight, letting the warmth wash over me and fill me up, I fell asleep.

I had a light, dreamless asleep. Not being truly asleep because my senses were always on alert, ears and tail flicking every now and then at annoying or far away sounds. All of a sudden, I felt a small poking sensation in my side. I opened my eyes and wearily looked at who was doing this, it was Eric. My nose wrinkled at him, and I sniffed hard at him in annoyance. He looked at me, a bit scared, but spoke, "The bell's gonna ring soon. You might want to change back into your human form." I nodded my shaggy head and stretched like a house cat, then shook my mane and yawned, showing off my massive fangs. He cringed back in fear and then mumbled something I couldn't quite pick up, and quickly ran off. I loped back to my tree and changed back before getting my things and walking inside to the girl's locker rooms.

Sitting alone at the top of the bleachers, I thought about who would get called on this time. Boomer was already in his chair, he was just waiting for everyone to quiet down. Once everyone was quiet, he called on some kid named Ryan and a girl named Jessica. They chose to go against another pair, one boy named Finn and the other Derrick. Ryan could control people's shadows and make them do what he wanted. Jessica was like the opposite of Warren, she could control ice. Finn had super speed, and Derrick could shoot orbs of light from his hands. They were the most intense three minutes anyone at Sky High had ever experienced, or watched. The four kids were all well matched against each other, and in the end no one won, as both pairs were immobilized. I let out breath I didn't know I had been holding during the match. Once it was over, Boomer decided it would be the only match, and that everyone would be let out early. I waited for everyone to finish trampling each other to get to the locker rooms before climbing down the bleachers and stepping into the room to change.

At home, I walked in through the front door to find my parents making dinner. Sometimes I wished I wasn't an only child, but I never let my parents know. After my mom had me, something went wrong and the doctor told her she wouldn't be able to have babies again. I feel bad, sometimes I think it's my fault, or it's because I was born with powers. My mom says it's no one's fault and for me to not worry about it, but I can't help it. Stepping into the kitchen, I hug both my parents say, "How was your day?" My mother answers, "My day was fine, dear. I'd say your father's was more productive than mine though." I looked at my dad, "Oh? How so?" He grinned at me, a smile in his eyes, "I got a raise and I'm planning a vacation for us over the summer." I grinned in excitement and said, "No way! That's awesome Dad! Where to?" He laughed and said, "I haven't thought of any place. You decide, and let me know." I eagerly nodded my head and hugged my dad, then my mom before running upstairs to my room.

That night, after dinner I was sitting in my room after finishing "Hairstyles of The Damned" when I decided to change into my wolf form and run around a bit. I went out into the backyard and changed, and ran around a bit. But something was a bit off. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I felt a bit weaker than normal. And..something else. It kept getting away from me. I sat down on my haunches in the middle of the yard and looked up at the moon. I let out a short mournful howl, before changing back and going inside to my room. '_What's going on..? Is it just me? Or something else?'_

**A/N: I've got most of this story planned out; I'm just gonna type it out whenever I have time. I'm going to San Diego this weekend with the band to a competition, but I'm gonna take my laptop and notebook of ideas so hopefully I'll have some down time to type the next chapter. Please review! I'll love you forever! **


	3. Ugh

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been busy with school projects and church. I'm having a lot of fun writing out this story, and to be honest I want to finish this story before I finish my other one, **_**A Twist On The Story**_**. It's a Chronicles of Narnia story, but right now it's on hiatus. Anyways, onwards and upwards! :D**

**Chapter 3: Ugh**

…**Warren's POV…**

A week or two had gone by, and I had surprisingly taken a liking to Serena. We never talked much, the most we would do is nod our heads at each other in greeting then go back to whatever we were doing. I soon started sitting next to her in Mad Science and Undercover Strategies. I think I started liking her because we _didn't _talk, and if we did it was about books or music or what we had to do in class.

I was sitting next to her-reading, of course- one day during lunch, and she randomly turned to me and asked, "Do you want to sit outside with me?" I glanced at her and said, "Uh..sure." She smiled at me and got up to walk out the cafeteria doors. I wanted to sit a while longer so I could finish the chapter I was on. All of a sudden, someone's food tray slammed in front of me, scattering food everywhere. Instantly, the fire in my body roared to life, wanting to unleash its anger. I swiftly got up and turned on the kid who had done it. _'Stronghold.' _ He stood up and apologized. I snarled at him, "You will be."

The kid looked scared enough to piss himself, "Alright, let's not do this."

"You think you can do whatever you want just cause your name's Stronghold?" My anger was building, the fire in my body getting stronger, but I controlled it, as I had learned to long ago.

"I'm sorry that my dad put your dad in jail, but-" _'This kid just asked for it..I'm gonna roast him alive.'_

I grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him up to my face, growling, "Nobody talks about my father." Before letting the flames consume my hands while I shoved him away from me.

He backed away, while all the other kids formed a giant circle around us, chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" over and over again. _'If it's a fight they want, it's a fight they'll get.'_ I called the fire towards my hands again and sent a fireball straight toward his face. He got a tray to shield himself, but the fire melted the plastic apart. I geared up to throw an even bigger one and the brat ducked just in time. I growled in annoyance and quickly scanned the room, making sure no one had gotten hit. I noticed that Serena was by the cafeteria doors, staring at me.

I cursed myself and turned my focus back to the Stronghold kid. I launched fireball after fireball, one after another at him, not bothering to care anymore if I hit anyone. _'Except Serena, of course.'_ What the hell was I thinking? The kid started running, most likely to the fire alarm, since he didn't have any powers from what I'd heard. I hurled more fireballs at him, and he fell to the floor on his face. He turned around as I was walking up to him. Instead limiting to the fire to my hands, I now let it spread up my arms. I hurled a massive ball of heat at him, but he crawled under the table just in time. Stronghold crawled while I hopped onto the table and walked over him, hurling attacks on either side of him until we got to the end of the table.

I powered down and yelled, "Where's your sidekick, sidekick?" Some kid yelled out "Right here!" and I turned my head to see a kid in bright colors being followed by another kid in orange, and then by two girls. I focused on them and powered up again, making another massive fireball. The kid in orange literally melted, and then I felt something shift under my feet, causing me to power down in my confusion. _'What the fuck is happening?'_ The Stronghold brat was lifting the table! I did my best to stay balanced, until he lifted the damn thing straight above his shoulders and tossed it-and me- over his side. I slammed into the low ceiling and fell into a table, breaking it apart.

It didn't hurt too much, I was tough having been doing strenuous work and being around fire my whole life. I laid there for a small while, gathering my strength while all the kids cheered, thinking he'd beaten me. _'It won't be so easy to beat me. Not for him. Not if I can help it.' _

I got up and yelled his name, making the kids in front of me run and him turn around. I grunted and spread the fire up arms again, not letting it get any further than that, since it was all I would need to defeat this punk. He looked so pathetic, meagerly putting his fists up. It was so funny I almost laughed.

I ran towards him with my fist aiming for his face. He ducked and grabbed onto my jacket, swinging me around and throwing me into the wall, making me go through it and into the next room where I slammed into a pillar. I quickly got up and walked from the teachers' lounge, through the hallway, and back into the cafeteria.

"Think I can't take a hit?" I yelled at Stronghold, who was once again being congratulated by his friends. They all turned around and ran from him, hiding behind tables, lining up against the walls of the cafeteria. This time I let the fire go up and over my shoulders. I was so pissed off, who does this kid think he is, mentioning my father? Thinks he can beat me with a few lucky punches. What a fool. He stood there alone in the middle of the room, facing me. I started running towards him again, at full speed this time, ready to beat his face in.

Some girl threw something at him, but I didn't realize until it was too late that he had a fire extinguisher. I still went for it anyway, trying to jump on him, but he ripped off the top and I was blasted with cold air, taking out my fire. I covered my face to protect myself from the sting and looked up to find that Principal Powers standing over me.

A few minutes later and I was walking down the hallway with the Principal and Stronghold to the detention room. When we had followed her out of the cafeteria and to her office, I tried to stop in front of Serena as we passed her, but Powers took my arm and dragged me with her, so all I could do was turn my head and stare at her. She watched me with unreadable eyes; her mouth was a straight line. I couldn't tell if she was disappointed or mad, so I sighed and turned around. As much as the student body at Sky High liked to assume I was a "bad boy" who always got in trouble and didn't care about the rules, I was actually a really good kid. I've gotten good grades since freshman year, I'm usually on time to classes, and I've never gotten detention. I would've made friends, if people hadn't avoided me as soon as they saw me.

We walked into the all white room and I mentally groaned, knowing the white was going to make me go crazy. I already hated being here and detention hadn't even started. We were to be in here for the rest of the school day. _'I have to miss sitting outside with Serena for this? So not ever letting this happen again.' _ I zoned out for a bit before Stronghold tried to apologize. I said, "I'll make you sorry." Before releasing the flames. I flicked my wrists, but nothing happened. I tried again, but still nothing. '_What's going on?'_ Powers told us that the detention room neutralizes all powers and I huffed into my seat. Once she left, Stronghold tried to call a truce. I looked at him and said, "If you ever cross my path again, I'll roast you alive."

I sat in that room for God-knows-how-long, until finally Powers came back in and said, "Alright, school's just ended. You're free to go, try not to let this happen again. I've called your parents and informed them of what happened, so expect something when you get home." I silently walked out of the room and down the halls to the doors that would lead me away from here. Kids parted down the hall for me, rushing to get out of my way. I smirked, '_They think I'll do the same thing to them that I did to Stronghold. Idiots.' _

Serena stepped up to me from her locker, and my insides froze. A sick, churning feeling went through me; I couldn't get rid of it. I realized with a frown that I felt _ashamed_ of myself. For letting my anger get the best of me. She looked up at me and said, "If you had just followed me..none of this would've happened." Her yellow/gold eyes penetrated me; they were swirling, like if there was something inside them, seeing what she was. I glared at her and grunted, "Thanks for the advice. You think I don't know that? Think I don't regret it?"

She raised an eyebrow and murmured, "No, I know you regret it. I saw it in your face when you passed me in the cafeteria. But no matter now, what's done is done. Move on." I raised my own brow at her and almost chuckled. _'Exactly what I would say, if she hadn't beaten me to it.'_ I turned and walked outside, not bothering to see if she'd follow me or not. I was walking to my bus when I heard a _woosh_ and dull, repeated thumps. I looked up and saw Serena was flying through the air, going over the busses and diving into the clouds that were covering the school.

I sighed and wondered about her, she was strange alright, but we got along. I figured it was better not to think about it as I got into my seat at the back. On the ride home I listened to Suicide Silence and Miss May I. When I got to my house, I stepped inside and saw my mom making dinner at the kitchen. I walked up next to her and muttered, "Sorry, Mom. It won't happen again. I swear." My mother just nodded her head before turning to me and cupping my cheek with her hand, "I know you won't, Warren." I smiled down at her and went up to my room.

**A/N: Soo what do you guys think? Do you like the change in PoV's? If not, let me know. I actually enjoyed writing from Warren's view. Sorry about the cursing, but Warren's a guy. He's gonna think like one, cursing and all. Don't like don't read. Although I would love it if you just read it anyways **** Reviews are seriously what keep me going with my stories, I love reading what people have to say about my work so pleeeeaaassee review! Byye!**


	4. Monsters

**A/N: Thank you everyone for all the reviews I've gotten! Sorry I haven't been able to post anything, but I wanted to make sure this chapter was a bit longer than the last ones. I hope everyone had a safe and candy-filled Halloween! :D**

**Chapter 4: Monsters**

…**Serena's PoV…**

I'd had a quiet weekend; I spent it with my parents, just relaxing. I had sort of put the fight between Will and Warren out of my mind. But whenever my thoughts would stray, I'd think about it again, re-living it over and over again.

**..**_**Flashback..**_

_I hadn't really felt and fear or excitement in watching as the others had from watching the fight, I'd just stood there and watched quietly. When Warren looked over at me, I felt something inside me, my lion instincts coming alive. __**'Protect what is yours. Don't let anyone hurt him. Protect him with your life, no matter what the cost.'**__ I'd shaken myself, getting the thoughts out of my head. "Again with the 'protect this', 'defend that' bull shit." I muttered angrily to myself. Nonetheless I watched the fight carefully, making sure Warren didn't do anything stupid to get himself hurt. _

_I inwardly cringed when Will lifted the table and threw it-and Warren-into the wall. I saw as he laid there for a while. When he got up I let out a sigh of relief, content with the fact that he didn't look hurt. When they faced each other again, I snorted with laughter at the sight of Warren with his arms flaming, and Will just standing there, fists raised like he didn't know what he was doing. Which he didn't._

_Warren ran towards Will, who somehow managed to duck, and grab Warren's jacket, swinging him and sending him flying through the wall and into the next room. I raised a brow at the kids who were congratulating Will, wondering if he had really beaten Warren. Right on cue, he came out of the giant hole in the wall and yelled, "Think I can't take a hit?" before powering up again and running full-force at Will. _

_I narrowed my eyes at the girl who had thrown Stronghold the fire extinguisher, which was out of line, it wouldn't just put his fire out; it'd sting and smart all over his skin like no other. I did a little research after the heat ray incident, and found out a few interesting things about pyrokinetics and other supers with fire-related powers._

_Principal Powers came in and lead the boys past me and to her office. Warren stared at me the whole time they were coming towards the cafeteria door, he tried to stop in front of me, but Powers grabbed his arm and pulled him along with her. I kept my face indifferent, eyes giving nothing away, mouth in a straight line. When he finally turned around, I sighed and slumped my shoulders. I quickly walked away from the cafeteria and went to the girls' bathroom to clear my head. _

_I tried talking to myself, "He'll be alright, he's strong and can take care of himself. No use in worrying over him." I looked at my reflection in the mirror, my golden/yellow eyes staring back at me, swirling with something so mysterious, I didn't even know what it was. I went straight to my locker after splashing my face with cold water, and then went outside under my tree. _

_During 6__th__ period, I didn't see Stronghold or Warren, so I figured they must have gotten sent home or put in detention, something like that. I sat at the top by myself, watching the current battle. The Villains won, and Boomer chose someone new, but decided this would be a one-on-one battle. A girl named Chantal was to be the Villain, and she had to choose the Hero she'd go up against. Chantal looked straight at me and said, "Serena Ange, I want to fight her." _

_I walked out into the arena in my armor, and faced Chantal. Boomer called for us to start, and the blond girl took a running start before shape shifting into a huge tiger. With the cat still coming at me, I shifted as well. I knew that my wolf form would be too small to take this, so I went with my lion shape. _

_Running at her on my own four paws, we met in the middle, paws raised, claws outstretched and mouths open with fangs glistening. We swatted and clawed at each other, both on our hind legs, trying to get the upper hand. I backed away and charged at her again, but she somehow managed to get on top of me and dig her claws into my sides._

_I grunted in pain and tried to shake her off me, but she sunk her teeth into my back, breaking through fur and skin, drawing blood. I roared in pain, louder than I'd ever roared before. I twisted away from underneath her and swiped at her eyes with my claws outstretched, then bit at her stomach, also drawing blood. _

_Making sure she was distracted from the pain, I quickly ran away and changed into my human body, sprouting my wings as soon as I was clear to do so. Glancing at the clock, I muttered, "Aw fuck, I only have a minute to finish this."_

_Beating my wings to gain some height, I was only a few feet in the air, when I felt something sharp rip into my wings. I'd never experienced anything like this. It felt like daggers were ripping my wings apart, tearing them to shreds._

_I screamed in pain, and looked down through squinted eyes. Chantal growled up at me, paw raised to strike again. My breathing was labored as I tried to keep flapping my wings to get to the dummy. I barely made it, yanking the absurd doll from the rope and falling face first onto the gym floor._

_Cheers went up as the buzzer went off, signaling the time was up and I had won. I groaned and looked up to find Chantal was standing in front of me, looking like if nothing had happened to her because she was back in her human form. _

"_Need a hand?" she smiled down at me. I nodded and pushed myself up, retracting my wings slowly. I stretched my back and said, "That was an awesome match, you're really good, Chantal." _

"_Thank you, you were amazing! I'd never fought another shape-shifter with so much power. I'm sorry if I hurt you, I didn't mean for it to get that bad."_

_I grinned, "No, it's fine. Don't worry about it, true? I've actually never fought another shape-shifter before, but I think it was fantastic."_

"_I totally agree, we should do this again sometime." Chantal said with a smile as we shook hands._

_I smiled at her and walked out of the arena to change. I got my bag from my clothes locker and walked out to get my homework from my regular locker. Everyone was out in the hallway, talking, getting books, going out to the busses. _

_I saw kids were parting down the hall and figured Warren was coming down this way. He walked in my direction with a smirk on his face. I walked up to him and saw his attitude change completely. His smirk dropped, and his eyes were downcast with his brow furrowed. Warren looked at me with shame on his face. _

_Quietly, I murmured, "If you had just followed me..none of this would've happened." He glared at me and was sarcastic when he "thanked" me for my advice. I knew he regretted it, just like I regretted what I had done._

_I told him I knew he regretted it, because I saw it in his face when he passed me. And then I told him to move on, because it was the obvious-and only-thing to do. There was no point in holding on to it. He turned around and walked away, towards the doors. I sighed and got the rest of my things before walking to the main entrance myself._

_I leaped off the steps and brought out my wings, now fully recovered, and flew off and over the busses and into the clouds. I flew straight home and once I got inside, went to my room and belly flopped onto my bed. I groaned in frustration into my pillow, trying to clear my head again._

_The conversation with Warren had left me slightly pissed. He was so dense; he couldn't see that I was just looking out for him, trying to keep him __out__ of trouble. I huffed and slowly cleared my mind until I ended up falling asleep._

_**..End Flashback..**_

The following Monday, school was pretty boring. First period was nothing special, we had a test on the first chapter we'd finished learning on Thursday. Walking to second though, I dreaded the class. After taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open, walking to my table in the back and wondering if Warren would be there. I sat down and sighed, looking out the window in boredom. _'I want to fly today, it's a really nice day to spend in the clouds. Warm, too.'_

I heard a _thump_ and looked over to my left. Warren was sitting next to me, turned to face me. He said, "I'm sorry about the way I talked to you on Friday. Just let my temper get the best of me, didn't mean to."

"Uhh..it's ok, I guess. No worries." I was in shock, and I didn't really know what to say.

With a confused look, he said, "You guess?"

I shrugged, "Well, yeah. I'm honestly shocked; I didn't expect you to apologize."

"Yeah well, I realized you were right after some thinking. Is it accepted?"

I gave him a small smile, "Yep, apology accepted."

Warren nodded his head with a grunt and said, "Alright, cool."

I turned back towards the front of the room and saw that Stronghold had walked into the classroom. _'I'm guessing he's in the Hero class now.'_

I nudged Warren, who looked up from the freeze ray we were building. He looked over in the direction I pointed and his hands slowly started smoking. I harshly whispered, "Warren, you're gonna melt the parts. Calm the fuck down and focus."

He glared at me, but went back to the project. Medulla was walking around, checking on students' work. I noticed him stop at Stronghold's table and take the ray, then turn and freeze a boy a few tables up. He walked on and I saw him come over to our table.

Warren had just finished the ray when Medulla came up to us. "Have we finished this project already?" I answered, "Yes, sir. We just completed it." He looked at me and said, "Alright, we'll have to try it out on you, Serena. If we test it on Warren he'll just melt it."

I got up from the table and held my arm out to be frozen. Warren pointed it at my arm and fired. A chill went through me when the ray hit, and soon my arm was incased in ice. I glanced at him but then noticed my arm was heating up. _What the..?'_

The ice melted off my arm as smoke came up, just like Warren's hands had started smoking when he saw Stronghold. I sighed in annoyance as my arm was now drenched and dripping water on the floor. Medulla gave me the same look as he had when we made the heat ray, but didn't say anything as he left us.

Warren looked at me and said, "Are you sure you don't have any powers that have to do with fire?"

"Duh, I know I don't. All I can do is shape-shift and fly."

He retorted, "You act like that's a bad thing."

"I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying, neither of those powers have anything to do with fire. If it wasn't obvious enough already."

"Alright, alright. I'll take your word for it. Jeez, Serena."

I could feel my voice getting a bit louder, "What, Warren? Something wrong with my attitude?"

He glared at me and said, "Nothing, I'm just..ugh, never mind."

I looked away in anger and sat back down, pointedly ignoring him. _'When did this become a fight? I just accepted his apology. Why do I have to be such a smart-ass?'_

Sneaking a glance at him, I quickly tore a piece of paper from my notebook and scribbled,

"_Sorry I blew up on you for no reason. I didn't mean to. Apology accepted?" _before sliding it over to him.

He wrote back,

"_Yeah, we're cool. No worries."_

I smiled to myself and stared out the window until class was over.

Warren sat next to me again in our next class, and soon it was lunch time. I opted to go outside instead of sitting in the cafeteria. I turned to my not-really-but-closest-I'll-get-to-a-friend, and asked, "Are you gonna follow me outside this time?"

He smirked down at me and walked ahead of me to my tree. We sat and ate in silence, and when lunch was over and the rest of the juniors and seniors came outside, I decided to fly. Turning to Warren, I said, "I'm gonna fly around for a bit, you cool to just chill here? Or do you wanna come with me?"

He looked at me and said, "I'll join you I guess? You know I can't fly though."

I laughed, "I know that, just come with me ok?"

He followed me to the edge of the school where he stopped at looked over the edge before telling me, "Soo, how are we gonna do this?"

I smiled, "Just trust me, ok?"

He looked at me warily but nodded his head. I smiled, a full-on, teeth-on-display smile this time, before pushing him off the edge of the school. I followed him and dove into the clouds, headfirst with my arms pinned to my sides.

I looked around and saw Warren was flailing around in the air, gasping for breath. I rolled my eyes and pulled out my wings, diving even faster before pulling out my wings and catching him underneath the arms.

Warren looked up at me and gave me a "Are you fucking crazy?" type of look. I laughed at him and turned our bodies around and pointed down, so we were diving towards the earth again.

After a few moments I pulled out of the dive and flew around in giant loops and circles. I noticed Warren had lost his look of fright and was now smiling as the wind blew in his face. To surprise him, I threw Warren up into the air with all my strength, and let him fall again. I raced him until I decided it was time to catch him again, and we flew back to the school.

When we landed, Warren stumbled a bit, before plopping down onto the grass, ass first. I landed on my feet and looked at him, a bit worried at the green look on his face. He took a few deep breaths and laid down on his back.

I sat down cross-legged next to him and poked his side repeatedly until he looked at me. "What?" he asked me in an annoyed tone.

"Well, what'd you think?" I asked excitedly

"I'm still a bit shaky, but it was amazing. I've never done that before in my life. But one question."

"Shoot."

"What the hell was going through our head when you pushed me off the edge of the school? And when you threw me up in midair?"

I smirked, "I just thought it'd be funny to surprise you both times."

With a glare he said, "Well it wasn't funny, I thought I was gonna die."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, don't be so overdramatic, princess. It's not like I was going to _let_ you fall."

Warren grunted and said, "Whatever. Just give me a warning if you ever do that again."

Grinning, I asked, "So you _did _enjoy it?"

He tried not to smile as he retorted, "So what if I did? Give me a damn warning next time, got it?"

"Deal!" I went to shake his hand but he got up and yanked me up from the ground.

"We have to go to Save the Citizen now; the bell rang a while ago."

I looked at him in disbelief but was proven he was correct when the warning bell rang. We walked into the school and ran to the locker rooms to change into our gym outfits.

Save the Citizen was boring this time, there was a kid who could make lasers shoot from his hands paired with someone who could turn invisible against a girl that had supersonic screaming and a guy who could distort metal. No one really paid attention, everyone sat around and talked but glanced over every few seconds so they wouldn't get in trouble.

Once school was over, I walked to Warren's locker and waited till he had all his stuff. He turned toward me and walked to the school's front doors. I followed him in silence, and that was how it stayed between us until I lightly flapped my wings to start gaining momentum.

"Thanks for the flying today, it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it." He smiled at me, and I couldn't help but grin back. It was a contagious smile, too bad he never let anyone see it.

"It was no problem; if you ever want to do it again just let me know, true?"

"Sure thing, see ya."

I started flapping my wings harder until I was in the air and dove off the edge of the school again, quickly veering to the right, then left, back to right, and again to the left. I needed to practice my agility when it came to flying, it was getting really shoddy. After practicing some quick turns and pretending to dodge flying objects, I went home.

**A/N: Do you guys like it? Please review**


	5. Let the Instincts Fly

**A/N: Hey! Thank you to all the reviews I got on the last chapter! I really truly appreciate them. I've been really stressed out lately, which is why I haven't been posting anything for either of my stories. School isn't going well, and some family members just moved in with us so my house is overcrowded and I'm constantly cleaning, trying to keep it all looking nice.. But you don't want to know about that, do you? Well, on to the story! **

**P.S. I noticed I made a small mistake in the last chapter, putting Will in Junior-level Mad Science with Warren and Serena. I guess now that's a mixed class as well, but he's the only Freshman in it :P**

**Chapter 5: Let the Instincts Fly**

…**Serena's PoV…**

It was Thursday today, and I grumpily sat on the bus to go to school in the morning. My mom wouldn't let me fly today. She didn't tell me why, she just didn't want me to go out in the sky. "She probably saw some weather thing on the news, she's so paranoid." I grumbled to myself in annoyance.

When the bus finally stopped in front of the school, I hastily got out and went to get my things. The day flew by pretty quickly; I got an A+ on my test in History of Super Heroes and Villains. It cheered me up a bit. Mad Science was boring, we had a lecture that lasted the whole period, so we had to spend the whole time taking as many notes as possible.

Undercover Strategies was pretty entertaining though, we had to practice what to say when we meet regular humans, how to act like we were normal too. To do this we were put into groups of two and had to read lines off a script to each other for a few minutes before performing them for the class.

It was funny watching all the kids read aloud in front of the class, and seeing the different scenarios each group was given. Warren and I were pretending to do a job interview for an advertising agency. I was the person applying for the job and he was asking the questions.

The lines were pretty boring, generic things I had learned about when going to regular high school. But what we did was really funny, making me seem very eccentric and over-eager, talking a mile a minute whenever a question was asked. Warren would just quietly stand there and say, "Riiight. Well.." in a very drawn-out, boring, monotone way with me cutting him off to continue my mini-speeches. I was told that I "wasn't what they were looking for" and we ended the skit.

During lunch, I went to the library to study for an upcoming test in Mad Science. I had asked Warren if he'd wanted to come with me, but he declined the offer. Sitting there quietly, I read and looked over notes I had taken while sneaking food into my mouth. It was uneventful, until I went outside for our free period.

I looked at my tree and climbed it, finding a thick branch a couple of feet off the ground and looking out through the leaves at everyone. I was really bored and couldn't find Warren, so I decided to take a nap. I changed into my lion form and lay on the branch with one hind paw and my tail dangling over the side.

After a few minutes of lying there, I heard a small chirping noise. Opening one eye, I looked around to find a bird was fluttering around my big body, pecking at it. The bird was annoying, and my first instinct was to swat it away. I sat up and lifted a paw towards it, swiping at it with my claws still retracted-I didn't want to kill the poor creature.

It kept dodging me, so I huffed-more like snorted-and sat up to try to clap it between my two paws. I didn't realize until I actually tried how bad of an idea this was. I went too far forward and fell to the ground. My cat instincts came alive again, and I flipped my body so I landed on all four paws. I guess some kids had seen because they stopped their conversation and watched me. Hey, wouldn't you notice a giant lion falling out a tree?

The bird was still pecking at me, so I swatted it again. The little bastard flew away and came back again, '_It's teasing me! Does it want to play? Heh, imagine how funny that'll look, a giant lion chasing around a small bird.'_ I laughed inwardly and watched it with wide eyes. I crept up to it whisked my tail back and forth, waiting for the right moment.

I pounced at the little bluebird and it flew away, circling around my head before flying off and coming back. _'The little guy does want to play! Oh this is fun!'_ I ran after him as he flew ahead of me and tried pouncing on him again, but it didn't work. I spent the remainder of the free hour jumping around and up into the air, trying to catch him at least once.

I had noticed some fellow students were watching me the whole time, and some girls were 'ooh'ing and 'aww'ing at my antics. Boys that were watching cheered me on and laughed their heads off. I ignored everyone around me and focused on the bluebird flitting to and fro. Every now and then I would let out a sort of mewl at the bird; trying to get it let me catch him.

When the bell rang and students started going inside, I still chased the bird around. I needed to get him just _once_. I decided to give up because I was going to be late so I mewled at my little friend again before running up the stairs and changing in the middle of the hallway on the way to the locker rooms.

Today during Save the Citizen, Lash and Speed were chosen to go up, and they were the villains. I'd heard about them, they were the residential undefeated seniors when it came to this. Their first opponents lost. When Boomer asked them who they wanted to go against next, Speed said, "We'll take little Stronghold and uh.." Lash chimed in with, "and we pick Peace."

Warren and Will went to change and came out in their protective gear. "Hothead, Stronghold, you're the villains." Boomer told them, "You have three minutes to immobilize your opponents and save your citizen."

"Ready, set, BATTLE!" and with that, the clock started ticking and everyone watched them go into action. Lash stretched his arm to a streetlight pole on the other side of the arena and Speed backed up into it before shooting off and around Warren and Will like a pinball. He punched them both and sent them flying through the air. Warren smashed into a dumpster, but quickly got up and threw it over the arena wall.

Lash wound his arms around Warren, pinning his arms to his sides so Warren couldn't break free. Instead of trying, Warren powered up, his flames burning Lash's arms, forcing him to unwind them. Lash called to Boomer to give him a foul for "cheating" but the coach just laughed.

I noticed Will was still getting tossed around by Speed and wondered why he wasn't doing anything. Warren was throwing fireballs at Lash, but Lash stretched his body out of the way, making one of Warren's fireballs hit Boomer.

Will finally got up and jumped up, punching the floor and making the planks ripple. Lash flew into the air and so did Speed. Will picked up Lash and wrapped him around a streetlight pole, immobilizing him. Warren was throwing fireballs at Speed, but he was too fast for Warren to hit. There were only forty seconds left, but when Speed started circling Warren, it felt like everything stopped.

My eyes widened as I saw what he was doing, Speed was circling Warren so his oxygen would get cut off, but that didn't only mean Warren couldn't use his fire, it also meant he couldn't breathe. My eyes were now widened with anger, _'He's going to kill him if he doesn't stop! Where the hell is Will and why isn't he helping Warren?' _I growled in frustration and concern when I saw Warren sinking down to the floor. I snarled as he was about to collapse, and finally realized that my mouth was filled with canines, my wolf teeth. '_**Go to him, protect him. Make sure he is alive and well. And make the human hurt for doing what he has done to what is yours.'**_ My snarl grew deep and threatening, the tiny hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

I opened my mouth wider as my longer canines kept growing, until Will finally held up Speed and sent him crashing into Lash. Will then picked up Warren and threw him at the dummy. Warren landed just as the buzzer went off, the doll was still intact. They had won. Will held out a hand to help Warren up, but he pushed himself up and walked off, leaving Will alone.

I ran down the bleachers as everyone else did, but didn't go to congratulate Will, I was going to check on Warren. I saw him walk into the boys' locker room just as I had gotten close enough to shout his name. I quickly went to the girls' locker room and changed as fast as I could.

As soon as I was done, I ran to the hallway entrance of the changing room and saw Warren walking down the hall. "Warren!" I shouted, walking briskly to catch up with him. Looking him over as I got closer. He looked fine, in his leather jacket, gloves, ripped pants, dark red shirt and black boots. But I knew that he was hurting on the inside.

He watched me come closer, and I saw for the first time that he didn't look angry, or bored, or stoic. Warren just looked..tired. He looked positively drained, like he was going to collapse-again, I noted with a frown. I looked him in the eye and quietly asked, "Are you ok?" He nodded and said, "I'm fine, better than when I was-" he broke off and started coughing.

"in the vortex.." he finished with a final cough when his fit was over.

He gave me a strange look, and I asked him, "What? Is something wrong?"

With a raised eyebrow and gave a small cough, he said, "Yeah, your teeth and eyes," he looked me over, "your nails too."

"Oh..yeah. My anger got the best of me when I was watching you in the vortex. Guess it never faded."

I regained my normal facial features, having to fight my wolf instincts to change back. When I was back to normal I eyed him, saying, "You need to lie down or something, recover. I bet you just changed and walked out."

He muttered, "The only thing I need is for you to leave me alone and stop worrying over me. I've already got a mom to do that, thanks."

"You know if you just didn't want me to talk to you at the beginning of the year you could have just said so. I would've saved myself from worrying-" I cut myself off and said, "You know what, this isn't worth it. I just wanted to make you weren't going to faint or anything. I have, so I'll be leaving now."

With that, I turned and walked away. I was sort of glad; I really didn't want to have another fight with him. We were almost..too alike, so when we did fight it would be over stupid, little things. _'Although I figured actually showing concern for someone wouldn't be seen as stupid, I guess I was wrong.'_

I was almost to the front door, when I felt a big hand fall on my shoulder. I sighed and turned around, mentally preparing myself. Warren looked at me, not saying anything. But I saw it in his dark eyes, the apology they held. I mentally cursed myself while I nodded my head in acceptance.

I told him, "You know, we're just too alike. Yeah we get along and all, but what if we actually fight about something that matters one day? Then what'll happen?"

Warren frowned, and with a grunt wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to his big chest. I slammed in to a brick wall, a.k.a Warren's chest, and let out a small "oof" sound. I didn't move or make another sound. I stood there frozen, breathing in his scent. _'Oh my.. He smells like cinnamon and spices. It's intoxicating..'_ I snapped myself out of my thoughts and pushed away from Warren, giving him a confused look. I honestly had no idea why he did that, or that he would even w_ant_ to do that.

'_Then again, he could've done it without really wanting to. He probably did it reluctantly.'_ Ah, my logical brain was back, I could think clearly again. He looked down at me, knowing the question my face held, and said, "So you'll know that if we ever do get in a big fight-which I don't doubt will happen-I'll still want to be your friend."

I blinked and nodded my head, but I didn't believe him. The way he said it, the tone in his voice contradicted his words. He sounded like he could care less about anything that would happen with us. I didn't want to believe him, Warren was lying. We quietly walked to the bus-my mom wanted me to take the bus home too-and sat down in the very back.

Nothing was said on the way home, I had my head leaned against the window the whole time, with my ear buds in. When the bus stopped at my street, Warren stopped me from getting up. "Do you wanna go on a walk?" he asked.

I raised my brows, "Sure, just let me tell my mom." We got off the bus and started in the opposite direction of my house. I pulled my cell phone out and called my mom. When she finally picked up, I told her I was going on a walk with a friend.

Of course, my mom positively gushed on the phone, "A friend? You made a friend? Oh that's great! Who? What's her name? When can I meet her?"

"Uhh..yes, yes, his name's Warren, and not today."

"A boy? You made friends with a boy? Serena, I thought you would make girls friends so you could have sleepovers and things like that." My mom practically whined from the phone.

"Jesus Mom, I'm not five years old! So what if I make a guy friend?" I looked over to see Warren smirking in amusement. I stuck my tongue out at him and listened to my mom rant on the phone.

When she finally finished I said, "Ok Mom, I'll be sure to be home by eight. But I finished all my homework, so can I stay out a bit later?"

My mom agreed and with that I hung up and started paying attention to where we were going. I looked at my tall, tan, _'positively handsome'_-_what? NO!'_ companion. "So where are we going?"

He didn't look at me, but kept walking and said, "The park, it's just a few more blocks away."

I nodded and didn't say anything after that. We walked in comfortable silence, preferring to just enjoy the day in quiet. We got to the park and sat under one of the trees on the field, since there was too much noise on the playground.

We still hadn't said anything after about an hour of sitting in the grass, people-watching. Warren randomly blurted out, "I'm gonna take a nap." I shrugged and nodded my head, leaning my back onto the tree trunk to take a small nap myself.

After a few minutes of dozing off I woke up and looked around. The park still had some people walking around and playing, but the sun was getting lower in the sky. I pulled out my cell phone and looked at the time; it was 5:57. I looked around me and noticed Warren was still asleep on the grass beside me.

His arms were still behind his head, his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, and a grimace on his face. _'Geez, even in his sleep he looks pissed off.'_ I thought with a raised eyebrow. It was then that I noticed the bottom of his shirt had ridden up a bit from over his jeans, exposing a tan hip bone and equally tan abs. I'll admit, I kind of stared, but then I snapped myself out of it and quickly looked away.

I sat under the tree and people-watched until there were only a few left besides Warren and me. I decided to wake him up, since it was getting late. I lightly shook Warren's shoulder and whispered, "Warren, wake up."

I got a swat to my arm and a groan before he rolled over onto his side, turning away from me. I shook him harder, "Warren, come on. The sun's almost down and I have to get home. I'm sure you do too." He still wouldn't wake up, so I transformed one of my nails into a claw and lightly ran it up his arm. I don't know why I did that, but something told me to, most likely the lion.

Warren felt it though, and sat up looking as if he had been wide awake the whole time we had been here. _'How does he do that? I wake up and I have to fix my hair and clothes all the time..'_ He looked at me and said, "How long was I asleep?"

With a shrug of my shoulders I said, "I dunno, an hour or two I think. I woke up a while ago."

"Shit! What time is it?"

A quick check of my phone. "Uh, it's almost 7, why?"

Warren jumped up and pulled me with him, saying, "Crap, I'm gonna be late for work."

"You have a job? Where at?"

"Chinese restaurant that's a block away. I have to go now."

"Want me to fly you there?" with a mischievous look on my face

Warren looked at me and said, "No thanks, I can walk there. It's not too far, but how are you going to get home?"

'_Shit he's right, I've never been around this area of the town. Damn it.'_ I shrugged, "I'll find my way home, and it's no big deal."

He gave me an incredulous look, "Yeah, I'm not gonna let you walk home at this time of night. I guess you could come with me to work and have your parents pick you up from there?"

"No, that wouldn't be a good idea. My mom would want to meet you and make a big fuss. Which, by my knowledge, isn't the best thing to do at a restaurant."

With a smirk, Warren said, "Yeah you're right about that. I'll walk you home and if I'm late I'll just explain why. That ok with you?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

We walked along the sidewalk in silence again, and I looked around trying to remember everything in case I needed to come this way again. When we got near my house I turned towards Warren. "You don't have to walk me the whole way; I can take it from here."

Again, he gave me an incredulous look, "I may not like anyone at school, but I was raised to always act like a gentleman around girls."

I laughed, "Yes, and the language you use around me is of the most proper and eloquent style." I ended with an over dramatic flourish of my hands.

"Did you ever notice I only ever used foul language around you because something sort of.." he trailed off, trying to find the right word.

"Momentous?" I offered

"Yeah, the fight with Stronghold, the surprise flying, the vortex, all of them were "momentous" if you will. But on normal days-and when we actually talk, I never use bad language. Don't get me wrong, I curse a lot in my thoughts, but I can control it so I don't say the words aloud."

'_Wow, he's..right. I can't believe I never noticed that before.' _ I looked at him and nodded my head in admiration and said, "Wow, I must sound so foul-mouthed compared to you. Maybe I could learn a thing or two from you." By then we were on my front porch.

Warren smirked and said, "Maybe, maybe not. I kind of like hearing curse words come out such a tiny kid, it's funny."

I glared, "I'm not tiny and I'm not a kid, Warren. You know I hate being made fun of for my height." It was true, even at Sky High I was short compared to everyone else there.

"Relax, kitty cat. I'm just messin' with you."

"Alright alright, I'll relax. You should get to work now by the way."

Warren pulled out a cell phone of his own and checked the time, muttering some nonsense in a language I didn't understand. He looked back up at me and said, "Well, it was nice hanging with you today kitty cat. See you tomorrow."

I smiled, "No problem hothead, see you then."

His dark brown eyes met mine and for a moment, I thought he was going to hug me again. Instead, he held our eye contact until he had to turn away and watch where he was going. I blinked really fast a couple times, and wondered what had just happened.

I walked into my house and went into the kitchen to get something to eat before sitting on the living room couch to watch TV. Dad came downstairs and asked, "Serena, I thought you were going to stay out late?"

I turned towards him and said, "No, my friend had to go to work, so I came home."

"Oh, well ok then Is all your work done?" My dad sternly asked

"I finished it all at school, nothing to worry about. I studied for an upcoming test during lunch too." My dad liked to push me as much I did myself.

He went back upstairs and I soon grew bored with the TV. I thought about all that had happened today, especially what I did when Warren was in the vortex. _'What was wrong with me? Why do I keep getting these strange thoughts in my head when Warren's in a fight? They're possessive, and they're not even __my __thoughts. It's instinct, coming from the animals I can change into. But I can't be connected mentally with a super power, can I? I know the instincts become stronger when I'm in the body, but that shouldn't mean anything. Maybe I'll ask Chantal about it.'_

**Please tell me what you think!**


	6. Homecoming?

**A/N: Heey again! I have good news :3 I have this week off, no school or band. You know that means? I'm going to spend all week working on BOTH stories (if you decided to check out my Chronicles of Narnia story). Because I'm a lame and stay home during breaks. For some reason my house is the one everyone comes to for holidays, but I still plan to be glued to my laptop with my notebook of ideas by my side all break long. **

**Chapter 6: Homecoming? **

…**Warren's PoV…**

I got off the bus to school Friday morning and remembered what had occurred the night before during work with a groan. _'That Hippie girl better not think we're friends now.' _I decided to ignore it and put it out of my mind for the time being as I went to class. During History of Super Heroes and Villains **(A/N: Warren and Serena have the same 1****st****, but different teachers.)** we learned about the rise of 20th Century Villains, but the bell rang before we could get to the Heroes of the same era. I walked into Mad Science and found Serena at our usual table, and Stronghold sitting at a table with that Gwen girl.

I ignored him and headed to my seat. Sitting down, I muttered a "hi" to Serena before getting my notebook out. The brown-haired girl didn't turn towards me, but I could see her nod her head in greeting from my peripheral vision. _'I guess she doesn't want to talk today. Maybe something's on her mind. Oh well, she'll tell me if she wants to, no use bothering her about it.'_ We sat in silence the whole class period, and it was the same during Undercover Strategies. She wandered off during lunch, as if in a daze. I wondered about her, but I shrugged it off as a "girl thing" for today. I sat down at my table-_'I've been sitting inside less and less, lately. Weird.'_-and started reading.

All of a sudden, a tray was placed in front of me. I was expecting it to be Serena, but instead it was Layla, from the Paper Lantern last night. She sat down and said hi, while I greeted her with, "Did I do or say anything last night to make you think this is ok?"

The girl mock-laughed and said, "You're never gonna believe what happened. I was just about to ask Will to Homecoming when, wouldn't you know it? I told him I was going with you instead."

I glared, "I don't remember that being the plan."

Just then, her purple-obsessed friend sat down too. '_Woah woah, what the hell do they think they're doing?'_ "What do you think you're doing?" I asked her.

She gave me a dry look and said, "It's called sitting."

Another glare and, "No one sits here, but me." They both made faces and started talking about some homework in their Sidekick class. I sat there, pissed off, until Layla piped up, "Oh, what about that girl you're always with, what was her name again? Serena, right? Where is she, she was nice."

I sighed and was about to answer when some kid in orange sat next to me and said, "Hey, so we're sitting at Warren's table now? I feel extremely dangerous."

I growled, "Woah-"

Another guy, this one in colors so bright it made your eyes hurt said, "This guy bothering you Magenta?"

"Try the other way around." I growled, "Does anyone else need a date for Homecoming?"

The orange kid raised his hand and all of a sudden, Layla started fake-laughing, and said, "Warren, you are crazy!" in an exaggerated voice. I gave her a look and she immediately stopped and said, "Please, I promise I'll make this as painless as possible. "

I saw Stronghold turn around and look at us, and it clicked. "So, you're not just doing this 'cause you like me or anything. You're doing this to get to Stronghold."

She slowly nodded her head, "Yeah."

I grinned and said, "Then I'm in," I dropped the smile, "but I'm not renting a tux." I stormed out of the cafeteria.

Wandering around outside, I found Serena under her usual tree and sat down next to her. Again, we didn't say anything to each other. I don't even think she noticed me walking towards her, to be honest. She looked like she'd been lost in thought all day, not breaking away from her mind, which is a first. I decided to see if she would pay attention if I said something.

"So, I'm going to Homecoming with Layla now. She told Stronghold we're going together in an attempt to make him jealous. It's not because she likes me or anything." I don't know why I felt the need to explain it to her; she probably wouldn't have cared anyways. Serena nodded her head and glanced at me, before doing a double-take and giving me her full attention. "Umm.. Did I hear correctly? You're going to Homecoming with the flower girl?"

I nodded, "Yeah, she wants to make Stronghold jealous, that's all."

She raised an eyebrow and frowned a bit. "Since when do you talk to her?"

"Last night, she came over to the restaurant I work at, the Paper Lantern. She told me she was supposed to meet Stronghold there but he never showed up. Hippie told me about how they became friends and all, and she's in love with him. Of course, it's obvious to everyone _but_ him."

Serena's lips twitched up in amusement and she said, "So you're going with the freshman to make the kid jealous? She honestly shouldn't even bother with him if he can't already see the feelings she has for him." After a few moments of silence I heard her murmur, "Poor girl.." I shrugged my shoulders and thought about the whole situation. _'They better not sit at my table every day now. And they better not start following me around between classes. I really hope I don't regret agreeing to this, especially if it doesn't work.'_

I rested my back against the tree trunk and brought one knee up, resting my arm on the knee. I turned towards Serena and asked, "Are you going to Homecoming?"

She looked up at me, "Nope, I'm not going."

"Why not? No one asked you?"

A snort, "That and, I don't want to go."

"Suure you don't wanna go." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm

"I don't have any friends here, so even if I went, I wouldn't have any one to hang out with."

I gave her a flat look, "I'm nobody then?"

"I didn't say that, but you'd be with that girl, Layla. So you wouldn't have time to hang out with me."

'_I didn't think Serena would actually care. Should I even try to make her go?' _ I thought about it for a moment before saying, "I still think you should go anyways. You'd have fun, at least."

"I'll think about it. And I do know how to have fun."

"So you'll go then?" I asked, with a hint of amusement.

Serena sighed and reluctantly said, "I'll think about it, alright?"

With a grin, I agreed. She nodded her head and said, "Ok, I think I'm gonna take a nap. All this talking has worn me out."

I thought she would just lay down on the grass, but instead she turned into a lion. Which I guessed made sense, because all cats like to nap in the sun. My own cat, Oliver, curls up in the sun to sleep all the time. She looked at me through golden eyes and slowly stretched out, carefully laying her massive had on my lap. I blinked in surprise; I hadn't been expecting that at all. I slowly reached out and touched the mane of golden fur surrounding her head.

It was soft, and slightly coarse. But it felt nice, and I soon started running my hand through the fur, petting the golden-haired cat in soft and rhythmic movements. I wondered if, like any house cat, Serena liked being scratched behind the ears. I found her rounded ears and softly scratched behind them. She moved her had closer so I could reach better, and sighed. _'I thought all cats could purr, even lions and tigers and other big cats. I guess I was wrong?'_

I checked the time and saw that the bell was going to ring in a few minutes. I tapped Serena's head, and she opened one eye with a grunt of acknowledgment. "The bell's gonna ring, change back soon." She lifted her mighty head off my lap and sat back on her haunches, slowly blinking until her sleepiness went away. Then she stretched and yawned, scaring the crap out of me when I saw how huge her teeth were. We went to our locker rooms and changed, then met out in the gym.

Today instead of doing Save the Citizen (they had do some repairs on the machine); we sat around and did nothing. It was really boring, not even Boomer wanted to be there, so he let us leave early. I got the work that I needed and left the school, cursing my boss for making me work as soon as school ended today. I sat on the bus and waited for all the other juniors to get on the damn thing, but decided to do something else when I saw Serena walking towards the edge of the school.

I got off the bus and walked towards her, thinking about how to ask her without making it seem like I was going to enjoy it. I tapped her on the shoulder and asked, "Is there any way you can get me to the Paper Lantern in less than," I checked the time, "thirty minutes?" Serena's face lit up, something I'd never seen before, because she always looked so calm and in control. _'Kind of like I do..'_ I observed silently, but unlike her, I was more careful about showing expressions unless it was anger.

She laughed and said, "You bet your sweet ass I can!"

I smirked and said, "You think I have a "sweet ass"?

She stiffened and peered up at me, "Umm.. Yes?"

'_Did I really want to know that..? Hmm should I tease her or ignore it?'_

I sighed and drawled, "I'm flattered you find my rump attractive, but I thought you would be the type of girl that cared about personality, not looks. Guess I was wrong."

I inwardly laughed as she sputtered in shock and anger. When she went to say something, I cut her off with, "Don't bother making excuses for yourself, just fly kitty cat."

She huffed in anger and her wings popped up, beating lightly. I stood next to her, looking across the sky at the clouds, the beautiful, fluffy clouds, I was mesmerized by the shapes the created, the way they moved across the sky, slow and lazy like they didn't want to be bothered to move any faster. It was a truly-

I was falling through the clouds I had just been admiring, going through the clouds and getting soaked with the water they carried. _'I suppose I deserved that.'_ I thought warily to myself. I wondered how long I would be left like this, falling through the air with nothing to slow me down. Soon I felt Serena's arms loop through mine and catch me, steadying me in the air. I looked up at her and she ignored me, looking straight ahead. Soon we were above Maxville, and heading towards the park we had visited. I frowned in confusion when she started flying lower; the Paper Lantern was a few blocks away.

She glanced around and dropped me into a tree, so I quickly clung to a branch and carefully lowered myself to the ground below. She was on the ground waiting for me and I spoke to her as I touched the grass, "Why'd you do that? What's the problem?"

Serena gazed at me warily before heading behind the tree she had dropped me into. She said. "I'm going to change into my wolf form, I have a leash and collar in my backpack. Take them out and put them on me, ok? I risked enough flying where people can see my wings, and I'm sure you won't mind walking a great dog a block or two, right? After we get there I'll just change into my normal self and walk home."

I nodded my head in bewildered agreement, and reached for her backpack. After digging through it, I found the spike collar and chain leash. _'Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen her in Serena wolf form since the first day of school. People are gonna notice a wolf three times the size of a regular one walking around. I hope she knows what she's doing.'_

What I saw was not at all what I had expected. Yes, Serena was now in the pitch-black body of a wolf, with bright yellow eyes and a muzzle that contained sharp canines, but she was smaller, maybe about the size of a German Sheppard or a bit bigger. I knelt down and placed the collar over her head, and then secured it to the heavy leash. I stood up and she followed, rising from her haunches to join my side. We walked along; Serena trotting at my side, when I noticed something was strange. I looked down at my temporary pet and said, "You need to look like a normal dog. Sniff random things; pull me ahead of you, anything. Just look normal."

Serena soon started stopping randomly, sniffing at the ground, leaves, trees, etc. We would walk along and then she would run ahead and pull me with her. I had to drag her away from another dog when she went in the opposite direction of the way we were going. We finally reached the restaurant and I went around to the back entrance. I knelt down again and took the leash and collar off of Serena, petting her head before getting up. She whined and shifted to her human form. I put her things back into her backpack before zipping it up and handing it to her, which she thanked me for. She smiled a bit and quickly turned to leave, but not before I saw the small blush on her cheeks. I decided to ignore it and clapped her on the shoulder before heading inside to clock in for work.

I walked home after a long night of bussing tables and washing dishes, tonight had been a really busy night, which meant more customers. It also meant more dishes to wash and tables to clean up, more spills on the floor to be mopped up. But I didn't mind, cleaning calmed me, and let me think clearly. I thought about the difference between the sizes of Serena's forms now, when they had been the same size when I first saw them. Why had they gotten smaller? I wondered if my butt really was nice-looking, or is she had just said it as an expression. But then why did she get quiet? And why did she blush? It didn't make any sense, and I didn't see why I was fussing about it anyways. I groaned when I thought about what I had agreed to with Layla earlier today. _'I know I told her I'd do it, but do I really know what I'm getting myself into? If this turns out to be a disaster it'll be her fault.'_ I figured that I might as well find a tux to wear to the stupid dance, as I lay on my bed after finishing homework.

I swear to you, if I had known how stupidly dramatic and annoying the 2 weeks leading up to Homecoming were going to be, I would have never agreed to Laya's plan. Not even if she paid me.

**A/N: What do you think? Please review! I'm always eager to hear from you all, so please don't be shy! I actually looked up whether big cats can purr or not, and lions are actually one of the big cats that can't purr. I learned a new fact while doing this! **


	7. Not Fast Enough

**A/N: I'm SO SORRY I haven't updated, my laptop got a virus early last month and I haven't been able to fix it until now. Problem was, the only way to fix it was to completely wipe out everything to get it back to how it was when I first got my laptop. I lost EVERYTHING. My back-up essays for school, my beloved iTunes (waaahh..), my pictures from when I visited Germany (noooo!), and every single one of my chapters. So this chapter is gonna be a bit rough, as I'm trying to re-do it from memory. I was halfway done with this before my computer went bonkers *sob***

**Chapter 7: Not Fast Enough**

… **Serena's PoV…**

The following week at school was as normal as it can ever get at a school for super teens, or would have been, if Layla didn't somehow manage to find Warren between classes and talk to him about Will or the dance. Whenever I saw her coming I'd give him a small warning before walking ahead, leaving him to deal with her happy-happy-rainbows-and-butterflies attitude alone. It's not that I didn't like her; I just thought it was really funny.

I could tolerate her friends easily enough, they were an interesting group, and I liked observing them. Zach was very...bright, for lack of a better way to put it. His personality was as bright as the colors he wore to school. He spoke with a very thick New York accent, which I found really amusing to hear. It was a bit sad seeing him try so hard to impress Magenta, if he was only himself around her, then she would show her affections for him back.

Of Layla's friends the one I could converse most with was Ethan, he was a cute little thing, always in orange, always willing to help others with homework, very reliable. He even told me some history he'd managed to pick up about The Commander and Baron Battle. According to him, Commander and Baron had been good friends through graduation; they were both in the hero class and used their powers extraordinarily well. They'd teamed up from time to time, fighting evil, until something had happened. A mission had gone wrong, and since then the two had been mortal enemies. No one bothered to look into it, and since neither of the two would talk about it in public, the masses had been left to guess for themselves, giving Baron Battle a bad name. No one but The Commander and Baron Battle knew what had happened that night.

Magenta was very witty; she used a lot of dry humor and sarcasm, which I found hilarious. Even though she seemed constantly annoyed by Zach, I could tell she found him endearing, and she was starting to like him back. We talked a lot, and when they joined us for lunch-which wasn't as annoying as it was before- the two of us were a force to be reckoned with. With the two of us combined, we could make even Warren smirk-his weird version of a smile when in public-while everyone else laughed. We'd carry on conversations that were pure insults and sarcasm with completely straight faces, which not many people can do. Since we didn't differ that much in clothing tastes (although admittedly I was more of a band-shirt-and-tight-pants type of person, as opposed to her skirts and blouses), we decided to go shopping over the weekend. Layla was going to come along with us, since she needed to find a dress for Homecoming.

It was Friday, and Homecoming was next Saturday, which meant everyone was left with one week to make final preparations. I frowned as I looked around me during lunch, looking across the grass from the shade of my tree. _'Everyone here's so wrapped up in plans for this dance, as if it was really __**the**__ most important thing in their lives.' _Warren plopped down next to me and said with a heavy sigh, "Man, if the Hippie tries to talk me into wearing a tux _one more time, _I will not hesitate to light her hair on fire."

I grinned and said, "But Warren, that's rude. You wouldn't really do that to your date would you?"

He looked at me and deadpanned, "Yes. I would."

With a roll of my eyes I said, "Pyros, you're all so weird. And always with a temper, tsk tsk tsk. Very unbecoming of a young man."

"And what about you, hmm? With your cursing all the time, I bet you could put sailors to shame."

"I probably could, but I'm trying to work on that. I'd rather not see a woman in the store clap her hands over her son's ears again."

Warren laughed at that, well it was more of a small chuckle with an adorable smile on his face but, it was a start. With eyes that showed an unfamiliar warmth in them, he asked, "Oh man..did that really happen? What could have been so bad that you'd use language like that in front of a kid?"

I shrugged, "I knocked some things off a shelf and as I went to pick them up I hit my nose on the shopping cart. It really hurt." I scrunched my nose, thinking back to the pain that had come with that incident.

Warren just laughed lightly, his shoulders softly shaking. I couldn't help but laugh silently next to him. It was a nice, friendly moment between us, which was pretty rare. Usually we'd read in silence or do homework until 6th rolled around. He pulled out a book from his bag and started reading after a few minutes of silence. I stretched out on the grass, with my arms behind my head, watching the clouds roll by. Soon I checked my pocket watch, seeing if I had time to fly before going in. Seeing as I still had an hour, I mumbled to Warren that I'd be back and set off to the edge of the school.

I walked straight off the edge without stopping, and let myself fall through the sky. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of the wind in my face, pushing my hair back and making my clothes latch onto my body. I pulled my wings out and pulled up, going back towards the school using slow, lazy beats of my wings. I rode a thermal up high above the school, where I noticed something shoot past me. I looked around and saw that Michael Anders had passed me, as he turned around and waved before going back to wherever he was going. I was confused to say the least, until I heard laughter coming from behind me. Turning around, I saw Sarah Bell and Damon Sanders come towards me. I'd never really talked to any of the other fliers at the school, because they all seemed a bit stuck up.

Sarah saw me and waved before coming to a stop in front of me. "Hey Serena!" She greeted with a smile on her face. I smiled in greeting and asked what they were doing. Damon explained, "Oh, we're playing tag!" I gave them an incredulous look and he explained again, "To work on our flying agility and speed. We take turns chasing each other through the air, and sometimes we have mid-air battles to practice those too."

"Whoa, that's awesome, do you mind if I join?" I asked shyly.

Sarah and Damon glanced at each other and then eyed my wings. They could just think about flying through and air and boom; they were up in the air. I had to work for the most part to stay airborne, but I didn't care, the flapping of my wings was a nice rhythm that I enjoyed listening to. They were silently deliberating, and then Michael came back over to us. "Hey, are we playing or not?"

Sarah told him, "Serena asked to join. We were just going to say.." she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

I took the hint and calmly said, "It's whatever. I wouldn't want to intrude. Have fun." And with that I beat my wings at them, creating a gust of wind that blasted them in their faces, and turned down towards to the school. I felt someone grab my arm and make me stop my dive short. I looked up and saw Damon and Michael. With a frown on his face, Michael told me, "I'm sorry Serena; Sarah can be a real bitch sometimes. And I can understand why you don't feel comfortable even with fellow fliers. We really would like for you to join us." He finished with a small smile.

I returned the gesture and said, "Thank you, both of you. Maybe next time though."

"I'll hold you to that. That gust with your wings hit us pretty hard; you'd be fun to fight against in the air." Damon and I laughed and I agreed to what Michael told me before turning back to school again.

I landed next to Warren, who had finished his book and was now laying in the shade, dozing off. Sitting down next to him, I picked a small feather from the edge of my wing and then they curled back into my body. Eyeing him with a smirk, I lightly ran the feather across his face. Down his cheeks, across his lips, and up his nose. Each time he furrowed his brows and made a small grunt of annoyance. I then lightly ran the feather up and down his bare arms, taking in how the white of the feather looked compared to the darkly tanned skin over his muscular arm. If I hadn't been drooling over his body, I would have noticed he was awake and watching me with a smirk on his face. So to my chagrin I jumped when he teasingly whispered, "Like what you see?"

I growled in embarrassment and glared at him before saying, "Maybe I do, and maybe I don't. That's for me to know and you to not bother finding out because you won't."

Warren smirked and stretched on the grass, bringing his arms up above his head, arching his back, and tilting his hips up. I rolled my eyes at the over dramatic display and shoved his head to one side. He just grinned and sat up next to me. I turned and grabbed my bag, making sure I had what I needed for my homework. All of a sudden I felt Warren's hot breath on my neck as he said huskily into my ear, "I think you do like what you see."

My eyes widened a bit and my mouth opened in a small "o" shape. I shook my head and shrugged his chin off my shoulder, turning around to face him as I said, "Again, that's for me to know." He sat back with an irresistibly sexy smirk as he said, "You want me, just admit it."

I snorted, "Please, your ego's as big as your head. Every girl in the school secretly wants you, so you play the "bad boy" of the school to get them all...girly. Go after one of them."

He actually laughed at that, which I found myself smiling at. I glared at him again and got up to go to the locker room. Warren was chuckling behind me as we walked up the steps. I stopped at the top and waited for him to catch up. He looked at me and grinned, then sauntered past me with a wink. I rolled my eyes and laughed at him, he knew half the female population of Sky High had a raging crush on him but was too scared to go up to him. And because of that, half of the female population also glared at me whenever they saw me with him. I usually shrugged it off, it's not like they'd actually fight me over him or anything, he wasn't even mine, no matter how possessive my thoughts were.

In the locker room, I noticed Chantal was getting gym clothes out of her locker while talking to some friends. I went up to her and asked. "Hey Chantal, can I ask you something?" She turned to me and agreed with a smile. We sat down on a bench and she asked, "What's up?" while pulling a shirt over her head. I had already finished getting dressed and asked as she finished changing, "I've noticed something weird about my shape-shifting powers, and I was wondering if maybe you'd know something about why they're acting up."

She nodded her head and asked me to describe what was going on with them. I started slowly, "Well, I've noticed that sometimes their instincts get really powerful. And when they do I grow fangs or canines, claws, and my eyes will change color according to which animal is trying to take over. Oh, and my size has been getting smaller and smaller, so now I'm to the size of a regular lion or wolf. Do you know anything about why this is going on?"

Chantal grew very serious and said, "What kind of feelings do you get when this happens?"

"Umm…usually I'm feeling protective of someone or something."

She looked at me and said very softly, "It's something I can't explain, but I know who can."

"Oh, who can tell me what's going on?"

Chantal's lips were pursed in a tight smile, "My grandmother, she's a shape-shifter also and knows a lot about their history."

I nodded and said, "Would it be ok if I asked her to explain to me what's going on?"

She looked at me confusedly, "Why not just ask your parents? Don't they have powers too?"

With a shake of my head I said, "No, neither of them have powers. I don't even know how I got mine if they don't have powers."

"Well then you can come over some time and meet her, would that be ok?"

"Yeah, it really would be, thanks Chantal, thank you so much."

She grinned, "It's no problem at all. My grandmother loves meeting new shape-shifters, she's really proud of the power. That's why when she found I got that power; she went straight into training me."

I smiled at that, picturing it. With another smile and thanks, I got up and walked to my seat in the stands and plopped down next to Warren. He turned to me and said, "Have you decided whether or not you're going to Homecoming?"

I frowned, "No, why?"

"Layla and Magenta are planning on asking you to go dress shopping with them for advice, and they're hoping to convince you while they're at it."

I sighed, "How do you know?"

A smile tugged at his lips as he said, "I overheard them before I went outside to sit with you."

I groaned at the idea of watching them try on dress after dress while I just sat there. _'Well maybe I'll get a dress of my own, even though I'm not going.' _As we watched a match going on in the arena, I was lost in my own thoughts. '_I wonder what Chantal's grandma is going to say to me about my powers. I honestly have no idea why this is happening. I also have no idea what was up with Warren today. I do think he's cute, but he's too thick headed. He hates admitting when he's wrong and can get insufferably stubborn.'_

I looked up when I heard Layla saying my name, standing in the aisle with Magenta. I asked, "What's up you guys?"

Layla asked, "We were wondering if you wanted to come dress shopping with Magenta and I tomorrow, and maybe if you could give us advice on what looks good?"

I smiled and nodded, "Sure, that'd be fun! I may as well get one for myself while you two get dresses."

Magenta and Layla beamed at me and we made plans to meet at the mall around 2 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. I laughed when I saw Warren's hands were smoking in annoyance of our conversation. The two girls then left to go back to Zach and Ethan, and Warren and I went back to sitting in silence. Soon the match was over, and we went back to the locker rooms and school was over.

As I stepped out into the sunlight, I took a deep breath and sighed. I'd had a pretty good day; it was a good way to end the week. Warren walked up next to me and said, "So someone's got plans for the weekend, look at you busy bee."

I smiled a bit and said, "Yep, what about you? You have any plans?"

He shrugged as we walked down the front steps, "Work, work, sleep, eat, work, read, sleep. Mhmm, that's about it. Should be thrilling, no?"

"Oh yes, fun-filled and overflowing with excitement. Lucky you." I said with a light punch to his shoulder.

Warren batted my hand away and said "bye" by lightly pushing me away from him and then pulling me into a one-armed hug. I returned it with a one-armed hug of my own and then did a cannonball off the school's edge. As I plummeted towards earth, my wings unfurled and wrapped themselves around my body, covering me in a shield of white feathers. I slowly turned my body into a straight line as I dove towards the ground, angling my body and wings so I gained speed quickly. With a large smile I finally pulled out of the dive and landed in my backyard before walking inside and up to my room.

After finishing my homework I looked around my room and sighed. _'I'm bored, there's never anything to do around here. Mom and Dad won't be back for a few more hours.'_ I decided to treat myself to lunch for the day, and wondered about where to go while I stepped outside my house and started walking down the street.

After a few minutes and deliberating, I decided to get some Chinese takeout. I smiled a bit as I realized the closest place around here was the Paper Lantern, the place where Warren worked. I'd never been there myself, but had heard from Layla and Zach that it was a really good place to eat, and not as expensive as other places. I looked up at the medium-sized building as I walked towards it and opened the door. I didn't expect so many people to be there, but I guess I'd forgotten it was a Friday afternoon.

The place was packed with families both ordering food to-go, and sitting down to eat. I figured if some families were willing to wait to sit and eat then the place must be as good as people had said it was. After about 20 minutes a receptionist led me to a small table near a huge window. I sat down and tried to block out the talking, sounds of eating utensils, and plates being stacked on top of each other. Soon a waiter came by to take my order. When I mumbled, "I'll have the orange chicken and teriyaki chicken bowl please." The waiter couldn't hear me so I had to speak up. I repeated myself and looked up in irritation, but was face-to-face with Warren.

He frowned when he saw me and said, "What are you doing here?"

"Stalking you, what does it look like I'm doing?"

"Well I fell special. What kind of drink do you want?"

I told him that he should feel extremely special and that I'd have a Coke and he left without another word, probably to give the order to the chef and pick up more plates. Sitting there playing with my rolled up fork and knife, I wondered about what kind of day I'd have tomorrow at the mall. When my food was ready and in front of me, I took my time, eating it slowly and watching the people around me. It was really interesting, seeing how people acted around each other. I watched as a boy and girl were on what looked like their first date, they barely touched their food because they were both nervous, but also having a good conversation from what I could tell.

My eyes moved to another table, this one had a small family. There was a tired looking dad, a flustered mom, the ever-moody preteen boy, and a smaller boy who was having fun playing with his noodles. They looked like a normal, happy family. Once my food was finished, I paid and left, passing Warren on my way out of the crowded restaurant. Passing was sort of an understatement; I had to slip around some chairs and ended up having to squeeze by his big body to get through. He smirked down at me and I swore I heard him say something about me being tiny. I glared at his retreating form and walked home.

When I got home my parents still weren't back, so I decided to find a new book to read. I looked through the living room that was more like a library, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves crammed with paperbacks, leather-bound novels, and some books that were so old the title was worn off. I finally found a book called, "The Kreutzer Sonata" by Leo Tolstoy. I took it upstairs to my room and read until I fell asleep.

**A/N: What do you guys think of this? I had fun writing it, but looking over it now, it just seems like a boring filler chapter. But I'm looking forward to getting the next one done, and the one after that, and one after that, and the one after that, until it's aaalll done :] Please review! 3**


	8. If Only, If Only

**A/N: Hi everyone! I've been busy with school for the past few weeks, working on a research paper and figuring out what classes I'll be taking next term, trying to get into advanced classes next term, along with making sure I have all my graduation requirements met. I'm going into my last year of high school and I'm kind of nervous about it.. Thank you to EVERYONE who added me to their Favorite Author/Story and/or Story Alert! It means everything to me, you're all seriously the reason I keep doing this. I love and appreciate ALL of you.**

**P.S. I randomly decided that Serena's going to have a puppy. It came to me just now. If someone could tell me how to post links to pictures on this, I'd be happy to put one up of the little cutie. Thanks again!**

**P.S.S. I decided I was gonna try doing half this chapter in Serena's PoV and the other half in Warren's, just to see how it goes. I'm going to stop bugging you all now.**

**Chapter 8: If Only, If Only**

…**Serena's PoV…**

The next morning I woke up and went downstairs for some relaxation before it was time to get ready for my trip to the mall. I sat down on the couch with Zeus, my black Akita Inu puppy. We bought Zeus when he was 2 months old, and now he's about 4 months. Zeus laid his head on my lap and I scratched behind his ears and stroked his back while he yawned and dozed. I got hungry and was getting up while saying to Zeus, "You want some breakfast, boy?" He peered up at me and cocked his head to the side in interest.

We got up and after I poured him his usual food, I had coffee and pancakes. After I was done I out the dishes in the sink and called for Zeus. He ran up to my and jumped up, resting his paws on my legs and wagging his tail. "You wanna play, baby?" I cooed at him. He barked in response and I morphed into my wolf body. It felt strange, not being as big as before, I was having trouble adjusting so I didn't shape-shift as often as I used to. I went down on my front legs, sticking my tail in the air, and barked at Zeus, who barked back and pranced around me, nipping at my paws. I started chasing him around the living room, barking and playfully biting him. Zeus jumped up on the couch and I started after him, but froze when I heard my mom come downstairs. "What are you two doing down here?" she asked, with her hands on her hips. I barked at her-'_What else am I supposed to do?'_-and sat on my haunches. She sighed and said, "Serena, if you're going to run around and play with Zeus, do it in the backyard." Before going back upstairs. I looked at Zeus, who looked back at me with his little head cocked to the side, and then went outside to the yard. He ran past me and picked up his rope toy and began swinging his head madly, growling while he was at it. I got the other end of the toy in my mouth and we started a game of tug-of-war. We ran around the yard, before Zeus got tired and went inside for a nap. I loped up to my room and started getting ready.

Dressed in skinny jeans, flats, and a '_We Came As Romans'_ baseball tee, I went to my parents' room and knocked on the door, letting them know I was ready before going downstairs to wait. I sent a text to Magenta, asking her where in the mall we were meeting. She soon replied, telling me we should meet at The Gap, and then look around for some dress stores. The nearest mall was about 20 minutes away, so it didn't take too long to get there. I hopped out of my mom's car and walked into the huge building, making sure I had my wallet and phone with me. Walking through the crowd of people was an interesting challenge. There were moms chasing after little kids, teenage and adult couples almost everywhere, teens my age that looked embarrassed because they were at the mall with their family instead of with friends, and the occasional crying baby. When I finally got to The Gap, Layla and Magenta were already waiting outside the store.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm a bit late, there are just too many people here today, and it's like swimming against the current." I said as I got nearer.

Both girls smiled and Magenta said, "It's no problem, we were just talking about which stores we should look in first."

Layla mentioned the name of a place called Windsor, so we went to look for it. Once we located it, we went inside and split up to look for dresses that we liked. Magenta found a purple knee-length dress that had black designs along the bottom. She went into the changing rooms to try it on while Layla and I kept looking. Magenta came out and called us over, it looked great on her, but she felt uncomfortable with the low V-neck that it had, so she put it back. I looked through the red, yellow, blue, and black dresses, but none of them caught my eye. _'Who knew it'd be so hard to find a dress?'_

Soon Layla found a floor-length green dress with gold straps that went around the front of the chest and tied around the back, and went to try it on. She called me over to see what I thought of it, and Magenta joined us. We both loved the dress, she looked fantastic in it, and with some simple jewelry she'd look amazing at Homecoming. Layla happily bought the dress and we decided to go to other stores and see what else could be found.

After looking around in a few other stores, Magenta found a purple dress covered in black lace and a purple sash that went around the waist and tied at the back. They were both pretty dresses, now I just had to find mine, but first we went to the food court to eat. I sat down next to Layla at an empty table while Magenta was ordering food at one of the many places there were to eat. Layla had gotten a salad, I got some Subway, and Magenta was in the process of getting sushi. "So have you thought of what kind of dress you want at least?" Layla asked me while eating.

I sighed, "Umm.. Not really, but nothing is catching my eye. I'm looking just to look; I still doubt I'll go to the dance."

"Well I'm sure once you find a dress you like, you'll want to go to the dance" Layla said with a smile. Magenta sat down across from us and chimed in, "You can't forget the shoes that'll go perfect with the dress."

I took a bite out of my sandwich and thought, _'I guess they're right, but I still have yet to find that type of dress.'_ I voiced my thoughts aloud and Magenta said, "Look how long it took me to find a dress, I'm sure you'll have one by the time we leave."

Layla nodded in encouragement and I just smiled and agreed, but I was still sort of doubtful.

… **Warren's PoV…**

I woke up to my alarm, and groaned in sleepy frustration. _'I hate training, it's so tiring, and I really don't want to do it in the morning.'_ I rolled out of bed and went to get ready for my day. After showering I changed into loose gym shorts and a muscle shirt and went downstairs to eat. I quickly ate some toast and orange juice, and then went out to my backyard, which was more of a forest. Wanting to live near the edge of town, my parents bought an old farmhouse with a giant clearing behind it, and a small forest on the other side of the clearing. They had refurbished the farmhouse and modernized it, outfitting it with everything in one of today's suburban homes. I used to come out here with my dad when I was little, and he would help me practice with my powers so I wouldn't get too excited and burn something-or someone-near me. I shook my head, breaking out of those thoughts. '_That was before. He's never going to come back. No matter how much I want him to.'_ I felt my chest clench in pain, but shook my head again.

Soon I was in the middle of the clearing, and sitting down with my legs crossed so I could start my meditation, because really, being a pyrokinetic was all about controlling your emotions. If you're quick to anger, you'll heat up fast, and the fire will just keep going the angrier and angrier you get, until it literally consumes your body. You won't die obviously, but it puts a serious drain on your physical ability and stamina. To be a pyrokinetic or pyro-anything means to not let your emotions get out of hand, and to make sure your body can physically endure lots of strain and damage without weakening too fast, because who knows how long a battle can last?

After 2 hours of meditating to clear my mind and loosen up my muscles, I got up to start my training. First, I would do laps around the clearing for another 2 hours, and then I would do things like push-ups, crunches, lunges, etc. to work on the rest of my body for 1 hour-'_Thank God that's only one hour now.' _Today was just going to be about my physical strength. I started off with a nice, light jog, feeling at ease in the early morning. Knowing the cool breeze would be short-lived as the day went on, I tried to finish my laps as soon as I could. My shins burned, my calves ached and my feet were sore from constantly pounding into the earth. I had worked up a light sweat, but knew it would be nothing compared to how much worse it was going to be later on. After my laps I went inside the house for a small snack before finishing the rest of my training.

The living room was nice and cool when I stepped in through the sliding glass door; I took a deep breath and relished the shiver going across my skin from the change in temperature. I went to the bathroom and splashed my face with water and rubbing the back of my neck with a wet hand in an attempt to cool it down. _'I never realized water could feel this good, mmmm.' _ Going into the kitchen I quickly made a ham-and-cheese sandwich, and took two water bottles outside of the fridge on the way back outside. I finished my food and downed half of the first bottle before starting my routine. I loved doing push-ups, because it required practically no thought and once your body got used to it, your arms wouldn't shake anymore when you were done. Getting down into the position, I cracked my neck and took a deep breath. '_No thought, just focus on the rhythm your arms make when they move. Up, down, up, down, up, down.' _I soon fell into the pace as if I was falling into my bed, although it wasn't nearly as comforting. After going as long as I could with those, I dropped to the floor and welcomed the dull throb in my arms.

Crunches were my second favorite exercise, because it was basically the same thing as push-ups, thoughtless rhythm. I quickly finished those and figured my last hour was up. I went back inside and took a hot shower to ease my sore muscles, and wash off all the dirt and sweat. After washing myself clean I changed into a clean pair of jeans and flopped facedown onto my bed and took a nice long nap.

"Warren, come on now, wake up." I let out a muffled _mmph_ and turned away from the sound. I heard a sigh and felt a finger poke my shoulders repeatedly, but I still refused to get out of bed. "Warren Peace, get out of bed now or you'll find your own way to work." My mom said in a slightly annoyed voice. I wrinkled my nose, rally not wanting to get up, but I did anyways. Half-asleep I pulled a clean shirt and socks on, then got my shoes on and stood up straight, which made everything spin and made me want to close my eyes again so I could _sleep._ "How long was I asleep?" I asked my mom around a yawn. "All day, I came home from work and you were out cold, lucky you're working the night shift. You would've been dead on your feet!"

I looked out the window once I got down to the kitchen and sure enough, the sky was starting to turn black and the stars were coming out. Pulling a black zip-up jacket on as I headed out the door and into my mom's car, I randomly thought about what I was going to wear to Homecoming. I was carefully thinking it over, so not much was said on the ride to the Paper Lantern. Before I got out, I looked at my mom and studied her carefully. I looked more like my dad than I did her, which I think made her a bit sad sometimes. Like both my parents, I had dark hair and tan skin, but I had my dad's dark brown eyes, whereas my mother had hazel eyes. I also had my father's height, facial features, and powers. My mother could take people's thoughts-whether they were hopes or nightmares-and bring them into our world. She could take your darkest thoughts and pull them outside of your mind, have you stand face-to-face with it. A dark power, but she did the little good she could do with it.

We sat in the car a bit more, before I broke the silence with a quiet, "Mom?" She turned to me and said, "Yes, honey, what is it?"

I cleared my throat and asked, "Is it ok if I wear dad's old tux to the Homecoming dance next Saturday?"

Her eyes widened a bit, but she said, "Yes, I'm sure he would want you to wear that instead of going out to buy a new one anyway. You'll look great in it." She smiled in a sad way after that.

I murmured a soft "thank you", and gave her a hug before getting out of the car to go inside. Mom waved at me softly and drove away. I took a deep breath and let it out in a harsh exhale and went inside the Paper Lantern's back door to clock in for work.

**A/N: Any thoughts on what you guys think of this chapter- or change of PoVs would be greatly appreciated. Personally, I really liked changing between Warren and Serena in one chapter then writing one for Serena and then one for Warren. But it's all about what you guys like, so whatever you like the most is what I'll do-unless it conflicts majorly with my story. Like if for some random reason you wanted Serena to get with Will. Sorry, nuh-uh, that's just not in the cards. First of all I don't see why anyone would want that, and second, that's just weird. **

**Well, until I update next, leave me reviews? Thank you all again!**


	9. Oh Hell No

**A/N: Thanks to those of you who reviewed! I'm still thinking about whether or not I should switch between PoVs in one single chapter, or keep a chapter in Serena's and then the next one in Warren's. Although I do like doing it half-and-half, it feels a lot easier. So this chapter is also going to be half Serena and half Warren. Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 9: Oh Hell No**

…**Serena's PoV…**

It was Monday again, and I trumped up the school's steps sleepily. _'Past two days didn't even feel like a weekend, I'm so damn tired. Stupid Mondays.' _Only a few things kept me slightly happy that morning: I had managed to teach Zeus a few tricks, and I finally found a dress that I liked enough to buy. Granted, the only way to teach Zeus was with the whole "lead by example" thing. My dad would say the command and I would listen, although my wolf instincts resisted, and Zeus would copy me. But if I spoke the command to him normally, he would just look up at me with his big brown melt-your-heart puppy eyes and his tail would beat the floor. **(A/N: I'm sorry, I just really love puppies.. "If I was in a hospital and only had a few days to live, and someone came in and put a box of puppies on my bed I wouldn't even care about the fact that I was gonna die." That's a quote from my chemistry teacher. But doesn't it make sense? Sorry..again.) **

My dress however, was a different story. It was black and had a slight V-neck, but it wasn't sleazy or anything. It also had a small slit on one leg, where the dress stopped at my knees. It was simple compared to Layla's and Magenta's, but I bought a nice pair of soft gold sandals to go with it. Altogether, the outfit looked pretty nice. Somehow those two had managed to convince me into going to the dance, and that we could all go over to Layla's house to get ready and go to the dance together. I didn't mind too much, I was secretly really excited about it, and looking forward to having fun with my new friends. Until I just about changed my mind during lunch and fought the urge to bite someone's head off.

I just walked out the school's entrance to go over to my tree so I could eat with Magenta. About halfway down the steps I noticed Warren was sitting near on a low wall, reading. I continued on my way, deciding I'd stop and say hi before going to join Magenta. I paused mid-step when I saw Layla go up to Warren and sit _way _too close for my liking, and grab his hand. I couldn't hear what she said, but that didn't matter. _'She's holding his hand. She's. Holding. His. Hand. I know she's trying to make Stronghold jealous, but I never expected something like this from Layla. She's so shy. And Warren's..__** Mine. He is mine.**__' _ I shook my head, trying to refrain from going down there and wrenching her away from Warren. Magenta must've noticed, because all of a sudden she was next to me saying, "Heelloo, Serena? You ok?"

I ignored her and continued to glare daggers at Layla, until I saw Warren was slowly making his hand hotter until she noticed and jumped away from him. He said something to her and then started going up the stairs. Magenta and I stood there; I was still sort of staring at where he had been sitting. He came closer and glanced at me, then gave me a strange look. _'Is there something on my face?'_ I thought absentmindedly. "What's wrong with your face?" he grunted to me.

"Well shit, hello to you too, Warren. Way to not make a girl self-conscious." I retorted. _'That certainly snapped me out of things.'_

He scoffed at that and said, "Not saying you're ugly or have a zit or anything, but you look weird."

I growled in annoyance and Magenta cut in, saying, "Not making it any better, Warren. Go, be on your way. Go on now, shoo." She made shooing motions with her hands as he gave us both a "what's wrong with you?" look and muttered something about "crazy girls" while walking back into the school.

Walking to the tree, I asked Magenta, "What's wrong with my face?"

She quickly looked to the side and said, "Umm.. Your eyes are yellow, and your jaw looks weird, like you've got too many teeth in your mouth?"

I frowned and asked, "What's up with my teeth?" while I opened my mouth wide.

Magenta's eye kind of went wide as she said, "Your teeth are all sharp and scary looking."

'_What the..? But this happened when Warren was in the vortex that day he fought Lash and Speed. It's these instincts again. I need to make sure this doesn't happen anymore.'_ I calmed down-I didn't realize I was tense until I noticed that way I was walking; it was at a normal pace but it was also calculated and quiet, like if I was going to pounce on the next thing I saw. After lunch was over, I sat on the school's front lawn and soaked up the warmth coming off the sun's rays, like many other kids were doing. "Maybe I should take up meditation," I sighed to myself, "Mom always said that I needed to get better control of my temper."

… **Warren's PoV…**

My day was going fine, actually it was pretty great. I had the next two days off of work, and none of Stronghold's little ex-friends bugged me too much that day. It was lunch time, and I was sitting on a wall reading "Rapture" by David Sosnowski when all of a sudden I felt someone sit _way_ too close for my comfort- _'Ah ah ah, not true. You don't mind when Serena's this close.'_ Is what that little voice in my head told me. I needed to get it to stop bringing her up. I wasn't really paying attention to what was going on when the Hippie started holding my hand and said some cutie-baby-bull crap to me just as Gwen and Stronghold walked by. Layla followed Will, even turned her head to see him better, so I slowly started heating up my hand, I'll admit I was slightly pissed that she even _thought _it would be ok to do that. And she still hadn't let my hand go. I mean geez, the coast was clear already.

Poor girl was so lost in her hero-boy pining that she had no idea what I was doing until my hand was actually in flames. She let out a small "Ow!" and jumped away from me. I mentally sighed as I stood up and said to her, "Never call me cutie." And I started making my way up the stairs so I could read in the library, where it was nice and quiet.

On my way up I noticed Serena and Magenta were standing on the steps, looking at where Layla was still sitting. It wasn't until I got closer that I noticed her face was different, like it had been when I was in the vortex that day I was in Save the Citizen. I tried asking what was wrong, and again I'll admit that my choice of words weren't exactly the best, but I didn't realize until Magenta was shooing me away like I was a little kid that did something wrong.

I went to my favorite seat in the school's huge library; it was a big leather chair in the corner that was so soft you literally sank into it. I put my feet up on the desk in front of me and read, losing myself in the story. Before I knew it, the bell signaling the end of 5th period was blaring through the speakers and I got my stuff together before going to get dressed.

Boys' locker rooms are always dangerous territory, if you're one of the small, awkward boys. Even if you were tall, if you were scrawny you were a walking target for bullies. Especially at a school for kids with powers. Try to imagine bullying at a regular high school, but multiplied by about 10 times.

Of course, being automatically labeled "dangerous bad boy" by (almost) the entire student body had its small perks. Kids got out of my way, and didn't even dare bump into me. I was working on getting an ugly orange shirt over my head I felt someone tap my arm. I sighed and pulled my shirt around my neck and just left it hanging there while I turned to see who it was that did that. It was Zach, the kid that wore clothes so bright it gave me a headache, and had a sadly obvious crush on Magenta. I usually tried to avoid him and the others, but decided to take pity on him this time.

I cleared my throat, "Uh. Can I help you?"

He blinked as if he snapped out of a daze and said, "Uh, yeah. I was wonderin' how you got to be so fit."

I raised an eyebrow at him. '_Pleeaase don't say what I think you're gonna say, kid.'_ I mentally groaned.

Zach turned red in embarrassment and I couldn't help but smile in amusement. He pressed on, "I wanna get big and buff like you are." I barked a laugh at that, which made him turn an even deeper shade of red.

I said, "Listen kid, I'll tell you my work out routine if you really want me to. But if you think a body is what's gonna impress Magenta, you got it all wrong. And frankly, I don't think you'd even last through the first half of it." I pulled my shirt down over my torso and walked out to the bleachers to join Serena.

**A/N: I decided to leave it right there, I felt like it was a good place to end this chapter. The locker room scene with Warren and Zach was super awkward for me to write.. Haha I felt weird b/c (obviously) I've never been in a boys' locker room.. Lord knows what goes on in there. And b/c Zach is so..well, Zach and Warren's just like "back the fuck off". I was experiencing that awkward conversation with them. Anyways, with every chapter I work on, I get more and more excited I get about this story. I had everything planned out, but obviously these two didn't like it because the past 2 or 3 chapters are completely different from what I had written down in my notebook. I'm honestly surprised I'm putting out another chapter this fast. I know some authors are all "I won't update again until I get 5 reviews" and while it's good incentive, I'll update no matter what. I'm doing this story for me too so I don't really care if I get 100 reviews or not. Sorry this note has been stupidly long; I wanted to get all that out there. Bye for now!**


	10. Almost There

**A/N: Hello again! I hope you guys don't mind the sudden update-craze I have with this story. Umm, yeah for once I don't have much to talk about. Enjoy! **

**Oh, and I do not, in any way or form own any characters in Sky High, except Serena and any other characters I make up. *le sigh***

**Chapter 10: Almost There**

…**Warren's PoV…**

'_Tuesday morning, one day closer to that stupid dance. Least I can finally get it over with. 4 more days..'_ I sat down warily at my desk in Mad Science, waiting for Serena to get to our table. A few minutes passed, and as kids started filing in, I noticed she wasn't among them. The bell rang, but I told myself that she would just walk in late. Medulla started the lesson and I figured that Serena might not be at school today. Which was extremely odd, I'd gotten so used to seeing her every day, and I'd only known her for a little over a month. Medulla's lesson consisted, as usual, of him lecturing while we took notes straight from the moment roll was done being taken to when the bell signaling the end of 2nd.

I frowned to myself on the way to Undercover Strategies. '_It's weird not having Serena here, there's no sarcastic remark to be heard from her. Ugh, I don't have anyone to warn me when Hippie or one of her friends is around, crap.'_ I was a few feet from the classroom when all of sudden, Zach popped up in front of me. "Hey kid, there a reason you're making me late to class?"

"Yeah," he said with his thick drawl, "I did some thinkin' and I really want to know how you like, work out and stuff. Not just to impress Magenta, but to maybe get the bullies to stop pickin' on me and my boy Ethan, ya know?"

"I'll tell you, but you have to realize my workout routine is for _pyrokinetics, and anyone else with fire-related powers only._ It wouldn't do you much good."

Zach frowned, which was sort of a first for me; I'd always seen him as someone who was always cheerful. But hey, I don't know what goes on in his head, so I won't judge. He still hadn't said anything, so I turned to get to my class, but he grabbed my arm and said, "What's some of the stuff you do to keep yourself in shape? Like stuff any regular person could do?"

"Run laps, meditate, do push-ups, crunches, lift weights. You know the things people do at gyms and what the teachers in middle school had us do." I finished with a nonchalant shrug.

He nodded his head and then grinned at me, "Thanks, man. I'll see ya 'round."

I nodded my head and clapped his shoulder, then went into class. I couldn't pay too much in class; the empty desk next to me was too distracting. I thanked the stars that Falkner didn't have us take notes from bell to bell like Medulla did, and instead gave us time to do our homework before lunch.

I finished my work with a few minutes to spare, when I wondered if I should find out Serena's cell number so I could ask if she was ok. '_Would that be weird? Maybe I could ask Hippie?'_ Even though we'd known each other for a few weeks by now, I'd never bothered to find out her number. Which I was fine with, she'd never offered or asked for mine, but all of a sudden I wondered if it would be weird. It seemed like if I asked, things would change. I frowned to myself as I was lost in my thoughts on the way to the tree I usually sat under with Serena.

"Man, I am _so out of it _today.." I muttered to myself. I looked around and saw various people I knew of, but never talked to. Soon Hippie and Popsicle entered my field of vision. They were across the grass, going to join some other kids, but I flicked my fingers toward them and a tiny ball of fire was sent speeding toward them. Popsicle stopped short and Layla jumped and looked around until she spotted me. I crooked my finger in a "come here" motion and patted the grass next to me. She nodded, then said something to Ethan and walked over. When she sat down, I didn't say anything for a moment, trying to put my question into words that wouldn't make her question me. '_Wait, why should she have to ask me anything? I'm not giving anything away.'_

"Umm, Warren? Did you want to say anything to me?" Layla finally spoke.

'_Might as well just spit it out.'_ I said, "Serena's number. You have it. I want it. Don't ask why, just give it to me."

Hippie gave me a "what the fuck?" look but then rattled off the numbers. I saved it into my phone, and thanked her. She just nodded, and then went silent, I guess thinking about something. All of a sudden she blurts out, "I'm really really sorry Warren. I shouldn't have told Will I was going to the dance with you. I know you wanted to go with Serena, but I panicked when-"

I cut off her with a glare and a low growl, "You thought I _what_?"

She turned red and meekly replied, "I.. I thought you wanted to go to Homecoming with Serena."

I was honestly taken aback, I'd never once thought about that. I raised my eyebrows and frowned a bit at her assumption. "Well, I don't know where you heard that from, but I never even once considered going to the dance. Then you asked me to go along with your plan. Which I must say, doesn't really seem to be working."

Hippie sighed and muttered, "I know, I don't even want to go to the dance anymore, I feel horrible. And I know you're not looking forward to it so don't lie."

"Well I'm not gonna lie to you, I don't want to go either, but we may as well, I'm sure you already have a dress. You can use the dance as one last effort to make Stronghold jealous and if not even _that _works, forget about him and move on."

Layla nodded in agreement and smiled at me before saying, "You're right, I'll do that."

I didn't bother saying anything, I stared straight ahead. Then I felt an arm hesitantly come around my shoulder. I sent a sidelong glance to Layla, who just said, "You look sad today."

I grunted in thanks and told her she better get going, her friends were waiting. She jumped up and nearly ran inside the school, waving to me while she ran. I smiled and sent a small wave back. About 10 minutes later the bell rang and the underclassman started leaving. I sighed to myself and thought, '_I've done enough good deeds for the day. Time for some relaxation.'_ Stretching out in the grass, I put my arms behind my head and sleepily gazed at the bright blue sky that was showing in small gaps between the leaves.

… **Serena's PoV…**

I woke up the next morning with a horrible feeling in my stomach. I thought getting ready would wake me up make me feel better, but it didn't at all. _'Why do I feel like something horrible is about to happen to me? I don't like this.'_ I went downstairs and tried to eat some simple toast and water, but couldn't stomach it. Zeus pattered up to me, his claws making little click-clack against the hardwood floor and whined. I stared at my water, wondering if I should go to school or not today. I moved to go back upstairs to my room, when the clock on the wall stopped me. '_10:00 a.m., well I guess that solves my question about school or not.'_ I trudged up to my room and curled up under the covers and went back to sleep.

Zeus' sniffing at my face was what woke me up a while later. I mumbled at him to get off of me, and he whined before curling up next to me and watching me intently. The sun was right in my face, and I figured lying in bed any longer was pointless and sat up with a groan. _'Did I eat something bad yesterday or what?' _I tried thinking of reasons as to why my stomach still had a terrible feeling, but kept coming up blank. Zeus was still looking at me, his black head between his paws, and something clicked inside my head. I concentrated on morphing my body from my normal human body into my wolf form. I sat in my bed and waited for the feeling of tissue tearing, bones breaking and my skin stretching and growing hair. It never came. The feeling in my gut intensified as I tried to shift again. Again, I was still in my human body. I tried not to panic, and thought maybe I could still shift into my lion body, so I concentrated on the image of a big cat in my head, but still, nothing. My eyes grew wide, my brain and heart went into panic mode. _'What's going on?' _I screamed in my head. My fear was so bad that I started hyperventilating, my hands shook, and I was getting dizzy, the objects in my room spinning. I realized I was going to be sick and stumbled to the bathroom, and then collapsed in front of the toilet and wretched. When I was done, I flushed and rinsed my mouth out, along with splashing my face with water to clear it. Another feeling of fear overtook me and suddenly I was afraid to look in the mirror, but I did anyways. My mouth hung open in shock as I stared at my reflection. Everything was the same, with the exception of my most distinctive feature. _My eyes._ They weren't gold/yellow anymore. Now they were almost red-looking. I screamed. Then everything went black.

When I came around, I was lying on the bathroom floor, with Zeus sitting next to me. I noticed his eyes looked sad, like he knew what happened to me. Which I guess he did in a way, he'd seen me go from his human master to his wolf play mate. I stared at the ceiling, not one thought going through my mind. I curled into a ball on the smooth tile, and went to staring at my knees. I jumped when I heard my cell phone go off from my room. I slowly got up and went to answer it.

I didn't recognize the number, but I picked up nonetheless. A gruff voice on the other end said, "Hello? Serena?" I frowned as I recognized the voice and said, "W-Warren? Is that you?"

He breathed, "Yeah, uh, it's me. Hippie gave me your number."

I pictured him rubbing the back of his neck as he said that and almost smiled. "Umm, so why are you calling? I don't mean to be rude, but.." I trailed off, mentally slapping myself.

"I just wanted to see of you were ok, seeing as you aren't at school and all.." he was the one to trail off this time, but then he added, "Is something wrong?"

I started breathing hard again as I remembered what happened earlier. My voice quivered as I replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just sick is all, I should be back at school tomorrow."

He sounded relieved and said, "Glad to hear that, hope you get better. Ah, I have notes from Mad Science and Undercover Strategies and I guess-I guess if you want me to, I can swing by I can drop them off for you?"

I nodded my head, and stopped when I realized he couldn't see me doing that. "Uh yeah that sounds good, thank you. When do you wanna drop em off?"

I heard him breath and mutter something to himself, then he said, "I guess after school? I don't have work today and won't be doing anything but homework. Which reminds me, I've got the assignments from Medulla and Falkner's classes, and they're worksheets that go along with chapters from the textbooks."

"After school is great. Would you mind helping me with the homework in Mad Science? I have a feeling I'm not going to understand it one bit, and I _know_ you have a good grade in that class. I've seen the marks you get on tests when he hands them back."

Warren let out a snort of humor and said, "Yeah, you've got me there. I'd be glad to help."

I smiled a bit, "Alright then, I'll see you after school." I could hear the bell ring in the background, and I could tell by the time that 6th was starting.

"See you then, Serena. Bye." And Warren hung up with a click.

I sighed and flopped onto my bed, deciding the best thing was just to avoid my _problem_ was to distract myself so I wouldn't think about it. Getting up, I started cleaning my room, picking up dirty clothes, putting clean clothes in various drawers and hanging other things in my closet. I organized books, picked up trash, made my bed, and vacuumed. Then I went downstairs and put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, swept the kitchen, and cleaned the counters and table. Looking at the clock to check the time, I realized Warren was going to be here at any minute. I went into the downstairs bathroom to check my appearance. My hair was up in a messy bun, and my outfit wasn't that great. After going back upstairs this morning I had changed into a large shirt and sweats. I tried not to look at my face too much; I didn't want to see what would be looking back at me.

Sitting around wasn't an option, so I made some coffee. My stomach growled loudly and I noticed that I hadn't eaten anything all day. So while the coffee was going I made waffles, a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, a ham-lettuce-tomato-mayo sandwich, and an English muffin with butter on it. I set all of the food down across the table in the dining room and was about to sit down and start eating, when there was a knock at the front door. My stomach growled in protest as I walked out of the kitchen to get the door. I opened it and there stood Warren, tall, dark, and dressed in black jeans, boots, and a black shirt. I raised a brow and said, "What, no leather jacket?" with a smirk.

…**Warren's PoV…**

I rolled my eyes at Serena's remark and answered, "It was too hot for one today." She shrugged and quickly looked away, standing there awkwardly. I looked down at her curiously, I'd never seen her like this, and it was weird. She was wearing a too-big shirt that went to her thigh, a shirt that also happened to look like she cut it so that it would hang off one shoulder, and dark blue sweats. '_She has tiny feet.'_ I randomly made that observation as she turned and shuffled inside, making a motion for me to follow her. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.

I observed her home as I followed her into the kitchen. It was nice, the walls painted warm and inviting colors that could make anyone feel at home and safe there. My observation was stopped short as a black and white puppy ran towards me, and jumped on my legs, barking happily and wagging his tail. He sniffed my legs as I walked to the table Serena was standing at. She looked down and sharply said, "Zeus, down boy." The pup stopped but walked around me, sniffing my boots and panting excitedly.

I watched as Serena poured herself a huge mug of coffee, then turned to me and asked, "Want some?" I nodded and she went to a cupboard and grabbed another mug and poured the rest for me. "I'm sure you know how to mix in sugar and creamer, right?" she in a teasing voice. I smiled. "Yeah, I'd like to think I do." And I set about making it the way I liked it. I followed Serena into the dining room and stopped short. '_Can she really eat all that?'_ I thought in disbelief. She turned to me with a questioning look on her face, and then glanced between me and the food, and then she said, "Want me to make you some food?"

"Umm, it's up to you. I'll eat whatever though, thank you." I finished with a small shrug.

She pursed her lips and said, "How about I just share some of this with you?"

I nodded, and we sat down at the table. Serena started pouring syrup on her waffles and told me, "Just get whatever you want, if you want more of something I'll get it done."

I got the plate that held the sandwiches and ate the peanut butter & jelly one first. Taking a drink of coffee, Serena quickly glanced at me and then asked, "So what'd I miss at school today?"

Swallowing my food, I said, "Well, you missed a couple of boring lessons, Zach asking me about how to get in shape, and Hippie thinking we were gonna go to Homecoming together."

I almost laughed at the look on Serena's face when I said the last part, she was giving me a "what the fuck?" look, like Hippie had earlier. Then she was silent for a moment before saying, "I didn't ever think of that. Why would she think we were going to the dance together?"

With a shrug I said, "Beats me, she was rambling and said something about thinking I wanted to ask you." She didn't say anything for a few minutes so I did a mental shrug and went back to eating. Suddenly, Serena said, "Were you going to? You know, ask me?" _'Fuck, what the hell am I supposed to say to that? "Sorry, I didn't even think I would go, let alone think about asking you" Yeah, so not going to happen.'_

I was at a loss for words, but somehow managed to say, "Umm. I didn't even think I was gonna go to Homecoming. I guess I never gave it much thought." I finished with a wince. No matter what words I used, I still sounded like a dick. Luckily, Serena didn't look dissapointd or even surprised at what I said. We finished all the food and I offered to help put things away but she batted me away and told me to go to the living room with Zeus. So I did. _'Well duh, it's her house. What am I going to do, say "no"?' _I sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to me, which the little dog jumped up onto. He licked my hand and lay down with his head in my lap while I stroked his back and played with his ears. "What kind of dog is he?" I called to Serena. "He's an Akita Inu, original Japanese breed, so he's less fluffy than the American Akita." **(A/N: I did some research and black isn't one of the colors that the Japanese Akita is "allowed" to have. But cuz I'm too lazy to change it, Zeus shall be an exception ^-^) ** as she came into the living room I asked how big he was going to get and she replied, "He'll get to be about as high as my waist, they're medium-sized dogs, so he won't be too big. Will you baby?" she cooed to him as she rubbed his head.

She looked at me and I managed to get a good look at her face. I frowned and said, "You don't look sick. You look fine. Did you just not want to go to school today?"

"No, I really am sick, something's wrong with my stomach, I'm gonna go to the doctor and see what's wrong soon." She was avoiding my eyes, she wouldn't meet mine and I couldn't get a look at her own.

I gave her a suspicious look but let it go and changed the topic. "So are we gonna get started on this homework or not?"

Half an hour later, Serena and I were sitting in on the floor, legs underneath the coffee table in front of us, with our backs to the couch as I explained the homework from Undercover Strategies. "Why would I have to apply for normal jobs if I'm going to be a superhero?" Serena asked angrily, closing her textbook with a sharp _thunk_. I sighed, "Because you may not be a hero in the long run, haven't you ever thought of it? You can lead a normal life, never fighting crime, retire early, or die in battle, whichever. You can go to university, get a degree in something. If you choose that, Sky High offers choices of universities that accept super-powered people who choose to lead a normal life, and they won't blow your secret. Besides, you need some sort of cover too, just in case you do become a hero." She furrowed her brow and looked down, saying, "I never thought of that. I guess I assumed I didn't have choice because I was going to a school for kids with super powers, and I was on the Hero track. Do you know what you're going to do?"

I took a breath and let it out on a harsh exhale. I thought, '_I never gave that much thought either. I just know because my mom's a retired hero. Dad.. Well he was hero-turned-villain, but he had been meaning to retire before..' _my thoughts trailed off as I shook my head to come back to the present. I frowned and told Serena, "I've never thought much about it either, to be honest. But keep in mind that you _always _have a choice. Even if it's a tough one, you know? My mom was a superhero, although not as known as The Commander. But that was fine with her, she likes the quiet life and retired. My dad," I let out a deep sigh, "my dad was a hero at one point, and was going to retire, but then turned villain. Contradictory to what people say, no one but him, The Commander, my mom and me know what really happened to make him turn. And no, I'm not telling you, I've told you enough."

Serena shrugged and said, "I wasn't expecting you to tell me, nor was I going to ask. If you want to talk about it, you'll talk. If you don't want to, I respect that and won't mention it."

I smiled at her and said, "Thanks, kid." She tried to look mad but smiled back anyways and said I was welcome. We went back to doing homework, and I noticed Zeus, though I had been ignoring him before. He was curled up on Serena's side, with his head on her lap, whining every now and then. The look in his eyes was one full of sadness. I reached over and scratched behind his ear, saying, "What's wrong boy?" He whined again, this one longer, and looked at Serena, then whined again. I gave her a confused look and she sighed, then her eyes met mine. I felt like a jerk, but couldn't help that hiss of surprise that left me when I saw them. They weren't the yellow/gold color I was used to seeing. Now they were almost red, and not the white parts around her eyes, but the iris.

She looked away and said softly, "I woke up this morning with a feeling of dread, like something bad was going to happen. I had slept in anyways so I wasn't gonna go to school. I wanted to shape-shift so I could play with Zeus, but I couldn't. I tried again and then I tried shifting into my lion form, but I stayed in my human body no matter how much I tried. I got so scared I threw up and when I looked at myself in the mirror after cleaning up, my eyes were this color."

I blinked in surprise at her small story, and I didn't know what to say, I'd never heard of someone's powers just disappearing. "Do you think it could have something to do with the way you've been when you shift the past few weeks? You kept getting small and smaller and now you can't even shape-shift." I remembered that day we had walked to the Paper Lantern, thank God. Serena's eyes widened and she murmured, "Whoa, I didn't think about that. But still, I don't know why I was getting smaller, I just _was._" She sat with a sudden slouch, her head down in defeat.

"Maybe tomorrow you can visit the school nurse, and she might know why this happened." I offered that suggestion a bit skeptically, I don't know if she had any experience with this. All Serena did was nod her head, then she leaned her head on my shoulder. I froze for a second, then relaxed and nudged her to pick her head up before wrapping my arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer. She leaned her head on me again, and I rubbed her arm a bit saying, "This will all work out, don't worry about it."

**A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter! I wrote in Warren's PoV twice because I love getting into his head, it's so much fun and entertaining. And because I figured it would make this chapter longer. Please review, don't be shy! I'm talking to you who put me on your Favorite Authors/Favorite Story/Story Alert but don't review. I'm not mad or anything, just letting you know that you're welcome to review whenever/if you want. I don't bite :] For those of you who've been reviewing, I can't thank you enough!**


	11. Bite Your Lip And Fake It

**A/N:** **Sorry I haven't updated in forever, it all had to do with my computer virus I mentioned before. Because I lost everything, when I got it fixed, all I had was a temporary Microsoft Word trial and I used that up pretty soon. But now I'm using something else until I have enough money to buy an updated Word package. The other night I saw Sky High on Disney Channel (the Homecoming/Royal Pain scene), and came up with a lot of ideas I could use. So now, please enjoy :) Oh, and I don't own any part of Sky High**.

**Chapter 11: Bite Your Lip And Fake It**

**... Warren's PoV...**

I couldn't think of any way to cheer Serena up, she was slowly becoming more and more depressed as the days went by. But what was worse, I couldn't get her out of my mind.

_...Flashback..._

_We had been sitting on Serena's living room floor for a while, I was still rubbing her arm every now and then, as a show of support. I felt her wiggle around a bit, then she managed to get her arm between my back and the couch. I frowned in confusion, then felt her lean closer, wrapping her free arm around my middle and laying her head on my chest. My chest felt like it had been electrocuted, I didn't know what to do. We had never really hugged, per se, just one-arm stuff. My arm slowly went from her arm to her waist, the other wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her even closer to me, and I laid my cheek on her head. We sat like that for God-knows-how-long, just holding each other. It felt like the world had dissappeared, it was just Serena and myself, nothing else existed or mattered as far as I was concerned. _

_She sighed softly and pulled her head back to look at me. I looked into her now reddish eyes and murmured, "You gonna be ok?" She smiled a bit and said softly, "Yeah, I think I will be. Thank you, I really appreciate it." I didn't know what to say so I pretended like it was no big deal, saying in a gruff voice, "Yeah, it's no problem kid." Serena snorted at that and smiled a bit bigger, which made me smile in return. All of a sudden she frowned and pulled her arms out from around me. She tried to puller the rest of herself away, but I kept a firm hold on her waist. Serena glanced at me but I just shrugged and looked straight ahead, like nothing was wrong. _

_Pretty soon we started doing homework again, but our sides and legs were always touching. It was weird, because it felt natural. I helped her with the Mad Science work, then noticed the time and decided to start on my way home. Serena walked me to the door, and I gave Zeus one last pat on the head, then got up to say bye. Something was different now, I could definitely tell, but I didn't know what. She smiled and said thanks again, then cautiously wrapped her arms around my middle again, pressing her body against mine. My mind was in a daze as I slowly wound my own arms around her waist, somehow managing to pull her closer to me. I groaned in my head, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to hold her like this forever, feeling her soft body fit almost perfectly against mine, the scent of her hair in my nose. Giving her one final squeeze, I pulled away and started walking home with a wave goodbye. _

_...End Flashback..._

Since that day she was all I thought about, I found it hard to focus on anything else but Serena. My eyes constantly wandered over to her, and I had to force myself to look away. The only thing that would bring me out of my daze was when she got that look on her face, when she was thinking about the loss of her shape-shifting powers. Of course because she could still fly, she remained in Hero class, but it wasn't the same. I now spent our free period watching her train with the other flyers, working on how to fight in the sky and how to get faster, dodge attacks, and even attack with her wings.

Today was Thursday, and nearly everyone was freaking out, since Homecoming was in two days. I heard the beat of Serena's wings as she came down from the sky, and looked up to see her land on one of the branches of the tree I had my back to. "Tiring practice?" I asked while going back to my homework. She groaned, "You have no idea. Sarah's being super harsh lately, not giving me any type of break. She would've punched me in the face, if I hadn't blasted her back with my wings at the last second."

I smirked and said, "You should punch her in the face one day. Just to see the look on her face. She's always been a bit over dramatic, so this'd be perfect."

"Nah, I don't want her to stop helping me train, she's almost better at speed and agility than Damon is. Can't afford to piss her off, you know?"

I nodded my head and went back to work while Serena stayed up in the tree, softly singing to herself. The bell rang, and she hopped down off the branch and went up the steps, with me following slowly. _'Why am I finding myself looking at her more and more? I'm never like this.'_ I couldn't figure out why for the life of me, so I just shook my head and focused on getting dressed for Save the Citizen-they finally got the machines working again. Out on the bleachers, Serena was sitting with Layla and Magenta, all three were talking animatedly, so I figured it was about the dance or some girly thing like that.

Sitting down next to Zach and Ethan, we'd been there for about five minutes when Boomer chose the kids who'd be participating. "Serena, I'm calling you and.. Garrett up. You two can choose who you face." Garret was an electrokinetic, he basically did what I could do, but with electricity. They walked down the bleachers and went to put their armor on. Walking back into the stadium, they shook hands and Boomer asked who they wanted to go against. Garrett spoke up saying, "Michael and Claire, we'll take them on." Michael was another flier, while Claire could absorb any type of metal, then shoot it at you from her hands like daggers.

Kids whooped and cheered, this was bound to be a good match. Boomer could sense it too, because instead of giving them the usual time limit, he gave them an extra 3 minutes. Serena and Garrett were the villains, so they had to protect the dummy. As soon as they started, Michael shot up into the air, Serena went after him in a flash. They went up to the ceiling and hovered in the air while Garrett and Claire fought in the arena. Michael went to tackle Serena, but she veiled herself in her wings, making a shield, then unfurling them and flapping hard to make a gust strong enough to blast Michael away.

Claire had managed to hit Garrett pretty bad, his suit was torn in several places and his left arm had a bleeding gash on it, but he still kept attacking her, hitting Claire a few times himself. Up in the air, Serena dashed at Michael as he went for the dummy, tackling him as they dove down. They wrestled in the air a bit, the Serena pulled her wings up, swooping over the arena floor and dropping Michael straight into Claire. Garrett hit the two of them with a bolt of lighting, and they struggled to get up. There was only a minute left on the clock, and everyone watched with baited breath. Claire stood and looked like she was going to send a dagger at Garrett but redirected it towards Serena at the last second. My eyes widened as I thought she was going to get hit, it seemed almost certain the piece of steel was going to make impact. Serena folded her wings back into her body and dropped fast to the ground. Some girls screamed, thinking she wouldn't make it and would end up splattered on the gym floor. But a few seconds before the seemingly inevitable, her wings popped out and she flapped to stay airborne.

Claire was looking up in disbelief, so Garrett hit her square in the stomach with lightning, sending her into the plexiglass wall. The time was up, and Garrett and Serena had won. Everyone cheered, and as Serena landed, Garrett pulled her into a hug and started whooping while everyone clapped and gave shouts of congratulations. Serena looked over at our small group and waved excitedly, the other waved back and shouted, while I just gave her a small smile a thumbs up sign. I smiled as I saw Serena notice Garrett's bleeding arm and nearly laughed when I saw her look sternly at him and-it seemed to me anyways, I couldn't hear-admonish him for not being more careful. She then herded a laughing Garrett out the door, most likely to Nurse Spex's office.

**...Serena's PoV...**

After making sure Garrett was taken care of, I went to the girls' locker room to change out of my armor. Once that was done and I got all my stuff, I walked out to the front of the school, where I joined Magenta and Layla. The two girls talked about how the fight looked from the bleachers while we walked to the bus to go to Magenta's house. Mid-step, I felt someone yank me backward by my backpack, and I turned around to see it was Warren. I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and he said, "Good job, kid. I thought for sure you were gonna get hit with that chunk of metal." he said with a small chuckle. I rolled my eyes and sarcastically said, "Thanks for believing in me, means a lot."

"Any time, kid." Warren said with a wink.

I scoffed and said, "Well, I gotta go, I'm hanging out with the girls at Magenta's house today."

He nodded and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, giving me a one-armed hug. I returned it and waved goodbye while catching up to the girls, who were waiting for me at the bus doors. The girls smirked at me, they had seen our small hug, but I just rolled my eyes and got on the bus. On the way down, Layla turned to me, saying, "You know, I think I was right about thinking Warren wanting to go to the dance with you." I shook my head in disagreement and countered, "He actually mentioned that to me, and said he hadn't even thought about going to the dance until the plan to make Will jealous came around."

Layla frowned, "Oh.. But I thought.. I thought he was going to ask you for sure."

I shrugged, "Nah, I don't even want to go. But you two just _had_ to talk me into going."

Magenta laughed and said, "Well even though neither of you want to go, you're going. Who knows, maybe he ask you to dance." she finished in a teasing tone.

"Please, I doubt Warren's the dancing type. You'd have to threaten his life to get him to dance."

Layla spoke up, "Well I noticed something today about him."

I rose my eyebrow, silently asking her to continue. She explained, "At first I thought it was nothing, but I noticed Warren was sort of staring at you a lot Serena. He kind of has been the past few days."

I scrunched my face in confusion while Magenta snickered. "Why would he look at me so much?"

Layla shrugged, "Beats me, but whenever he did, he looked sort of.. Dazed? But most of the time he looked confused."

That confused me even more, so I didn't say anything as Magenta and Layla moved on to a different topic. _'What does he have to be confused about? And if he was confused, wouldn't he talk to me about it?'_ I thought back to Tuesday, when we had hugged before saying goodbye. I closed my eyes and could almost feel Warren's arms around my waist, squeezing me softly before letting go. I sighed, I had no idea what to make of things. The next day at school things were the same, nothing had changed. I figured Warren was only affectionate like that in private, because he didn't hug me like that again yesterday after school, or today at the end of the day.

I sighed and decided to forget about things for now, and joined Magenta's and Layla's discussion about what they thought the dance was going to be like. I sometimes forgot they were freshman, and that this was their first high school dance. This was just my first high school dance at a school for super teens. I started telling them about what the dances had been like at my normal high school, and they listened with intense attention. I laughed at memories of boys trying to impress girls, who just laughed at them for making fools of themselves, memories of how school the next Monday was spent gossiping about who hooked up with who with old friends and then laughing at the funny things that had taken place.

After a while I couldn't talk anymore, I was getting too wrapped up in the past, and started thinking about what had happened to get me here. Thankfully before I could get that far, my train of thought was cut off as we walked off the bus and on to the sidewalk with the girls. Walking down the street to Magenta's house, we talked about nothing in particular, I listened as they talked about their classes, and I asked questions about Hero Support because honestly some of the things they learned were a bit alarming.

We'd been loafing around Magenta's living room, watching bad "reality" shows and eating junk food, generally having a good time. Layla went to the kitchen to get a second drink, and Magenta turned to me and asked, "Do you think I should dance with Zach? I know he's going to ask, and I don't know what to say."

I thought for a minute. "Umm.. Wait, first off, why are you always so..the way you are with him?"

She sighed, "Guys have never liked me before, so this is all new. I don't know how to act around him, so I'm mean."

Layla walked in and said, "You talking about Zach?" We both nodded our heads and Layla spoke again, "Mag, why don't you try being nice to him?"

Again Magenta sighed, "I don't know. I try, I really do. But some part of me keeps telling me that it's all just a joke and that he doesn't really like me."

"What on earth would make you think that?" I asked, shocked by what she'd said.

"It happened to me through-out middle school.. Guys would say they liked me or spread rumors or things like that, and I fell for it the first two times, but never again after that."

Layla put a comforting arm around Magenta's shoulder and said, "Magenta I'm so sorry, those guys who did that to you are jerks and won't ever know what a great girl you are."

Magenta smiled weakly. I chimed in with, "Magenta, it's obvious that Zach isn't pretending to like you. He's a really genuine kid, he doesn't seem like the type to lie at all. You should give him a chance."

"Yeah, you guys are right, if he asks me to dance then I'll give it a go." Layla grinned triumphantly and said that if she didn't, Layla would force Magenta onto Zach.

After hanging out for a few more hours, my parents came to pick me up. In my room, I plugged my iPod into the dock and chose to listen to music for a while. I sat in my armchair and looked around my room, randomly taking it in. The walls were a beige color, soft and comforting, with a red comforter and black pillows on my bed in the corner. My bookshelf was a dark, polished wood that had been painted black, my computer desk was the same but a soft brown. My armchair was gray, in the corner opposite my bed, facing the window. Warren popped into my mind, and I tried pushing the thoughts out, but they wouldn't get out of my head. _'I felt safe and warm in his arms that day. It felt like it was natural, but could that be why he wasn't like that at school? Because he didn't feel it? Was it only me?'_

Friday morning, I for some unknown reason, chose my outfit carefully after my shower. I decided to wear leggings with shorts since the fall chill was setting in, with a shirt that I had cut. It had originally been a crew neck, but it made me feel like I couldn't breathe, so I cut the neck a bit. Now it stretched to my shoulders, leaving my collar bones bare, and the neckline scooped down a bit. I put on a zip-up jacket over my shirt and went downstairs to leave. Going past the kitchen, I heard my mom call my name. Back tracking to where she was, I asked, "Yeah, mom?"

She turned to me and said, "The school called, they said something about you needing to go to the principal's office when you get to school."

I nodded my head and left, thinking, _'Did I do something?'_ Soon as I landed in the front lawn area, I walked as quickly as possible to Principal Powers' office. Knocking on her door, I heard her call for me to come in. I cautiously entered and sat down across from the woman. She smiled at me and sad, "Good morning Serena, how are you doing?"

"Erm, fine ma'am and yourself?"

"I'm well. I called your home because I've been hearing things about you."

"Uhh.. Like what?"

"Some teachers have informed me that you no longer shape-shift. One faculty member in particular is concerned that you can't shape-shift anymore. Is that true? Or are you just choosing not to shift for fun anymore?"

'_Ohh..fuck.'_ I hesitated a bit before replying with, "Um ma'am, how do you know I'd stopped shifting? I don't see you around campus and I follow the rules about using your powers outside of class."

Principal Powers smiled slightly, "I have what you could call "birdies" around school, they tell me what's going on around school, if anyone or anything is doing something unusual. And, yesterday during Save the Citizen you could have easily taken out Claire, but left that to Garrett. Why?"

'_Damn this woman's good!'_ "I can't shape-shift anymore. That's why." Lying was useless, so I told her the truth. She'd have it out of me eventually anyways.

Powers nodded her head. "Has this ever happened before?"

"No ma'am," I shook my head, "It started happening a few weeks ago. I would shrink in size, to the point where I was a regular-sized animal, then on Tuesday I tried shape-shifting, but I couldn't at all."

"Well, we know you can still fly, so you won't have to worry about being moved to Hero Support. Unfortunately, we don't know much about shape-shifters, they often like to keep their powers under secrecy, at least the stronger people with those powers do. I'm afraid we won't be able to tell you if you will or won't get your ability back."

I replied, "I've kind of gotten used to it anyways. I'm working on my flying, trying not to think about it too much. If you find anything out, let me know." and with that, I got up and walked out of her office. I was given a hall pass on my way out and got my things for 1st before going in.

'_She brought up a good point, what if I can never shape-shift again? Should I ask Chantal about it now that it's gotten worse?'_ These were the thoughts that raged around in my mind all day.

**A/N: So there she is! A new chapter dona aaand done! Sorry again about the super long time you've all had to wait :3 I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm really excited about where things are going with this, and I'm going to be hopefully updating more. Pleasee review 3**

**P.S. I didn't come up with this chapter's title, that credit goes to Asking Alexandria, this title is for one of their songs. I don't own it, or the band.**


	12. Party Time?

**A/N: Thanks for all your reviews people! I always look forward to reading them, so I know what you guys like/don't like about the story, it's always a wonderful feeling knowing that someone enjoys my work! **

**Chapter 12: Party Time?**

**...Serena's PoV...**

Later that day during lunch, we all sat inside the cafeteria, talking about anything but the dance tomorrow night. It seemed everyone was on some sort of edge. Warren was ignoring everyone by hiding behind his book, while the rest of us chatted and ate. I glanced up because I thought I heard something, and looked up to make eye contact with Will Stronghold. Immediately my face froze, and I glared at him. He looked scared for a second, then went on to his table with Gwen and her friends. Calming the snarl off my face, I went back to my friends' conversation, only to be interrupted by a note landing in my lap.

I looked down at the folded piece of paper in confusion, then looked around the cafeteria to see who could have sent it. It was Will. He made a motion for me to open the note, so I did.

_Serena, I know we don't know each other at all, but could you maybe hint to Layla that I miss her and the gang?- Will_

I smiled to myself and pulled a pen out of my bag to write back

_Sure thing Will, and while I'm at it I'll drive a bus into the school. Why don't you tell her/them yourself?_

Telling everyone that I was throwing trash away as an excuse to get up from the table, I walked by Will, who had sat on the edge on purpose, and dropped the note in front of him. Going back to my own group, I saw the same folded bit of paper next to my bag, but Warren had gotten to it before me. My eyes widened and I lunged for it, but he held it out of my reach. With a teasing voice he asked, "Passing love notes, Serena? Who's the lucky guy?" He saw that it had Will's name on it and his face turned harsh. Warren said, "We're gonna go have a little chat, ok." It wasn't a question, it was a command.

I followed Warren outside with half my face in one hand, using the visible side to glare at Will as I walked past him. In the hallways, Warren turned around so fast that I had to take a step back, which was unfortunately, into the row of lockers behind me. I watched as he loomed over me, looking like he was ready to light something on fire. "Well, what do you have to "chat" with me about?"

"What the hell are you doing talking to Stronghold?"

"He asked me for a favor."

Warren's face turned suspicious. "What kind of favor?"

I sighed in annoyance, "Did you even read the note, Warren?"

His face went blank, and I knew the answer to that question.

"Warren, read the damn note before jumping to conclusions, will you?"

He unfolded the paper and read it, then looked at me in surprise. I gave him a "well, do you have anything to say for yourself?" look, but Warren glared and turned away. I got up from my leaning position and went to walk into the cafeteria, but Warren grabbed my arm and dragged my further away from the huge room. I sighed in an annoying, over-dramatic fashion, hoping to bug him, but he ignored me and kept walking until we were in an empty hallway.

I looked at Warren in curiosity and asked, "Are you ok, dude?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just ah.. wanted to apologize for being an idiot about the note."

"Then why bring me to a deserted hallway to say that?"

Warren turned towards me, but didn't say anything. He just stared at me, like if he was wondering whether or not to do something. Before I knew it, my back was to the wall and Warren was squeezing the breath out of me. _'What..?'_ I blinked in surprise, but smiled softly and linked my arms around his neck silently. He mumbled something, but I couldn't understand because his face was buried in between my neck and shoulder.

"What did you say?" I asked softly.

"Something came over me, I don't know what. But if you ever do like a guy, don't forget me?" Warren muttered as he pulled his head back.

I raised my eyebrows, this was certainly unexpected and random. "Of course I won't forget you, Warren. You're the closest friend I have at this school." He smiled at that, and pulled his big body off mine, but kept his arms around my waist. "Good, because I sure as hell wouldn't forget about you."

I laughed and nodded my head while he pulled me along back to the cafeteria, one of his arms still around my waist for a while, before he let it fall away. _'Something about us has changed, I know it. But does he know?'_ I considered this as we went back to the table to get our things and go outside as the lower-class-men left. We were sitting outside, and I was looking at the moving clouds, when a thought hit me like a freight train. _'Holy shit. Does Warren like me?_' My eyes widened at the thought of him having feelings for me, and I glanced at him, quickly taking him in. Warren was a nice tan color, he had dark hair with dark brown, intense eyes. His facial features- suddenly _very_ nice looking lips to be specific, along with a nicely toned body easily made him eye candy for girls. I frowned when I felt something in my gut at the thought of other girls looking at him and fawning over him.

If it hadn't been for the loss of my shape-shifting powers, I wouldn't have realized that I was _jealous_ of the mere _thought_ of girls staring at Warren. I quickly looked around, trying to think of what I could make of this realization. _'Well, first thing's first, I'm telling Magenta and Layla. But then what? Should I wait to see if he says anything? Whoa, hold up. Do I even have feelings..fuck. I do have feelings for Warren.'_ I groaned aloud and fell onto my back with my hands over my face. I peeked at Warren through my fingers, but he was absorbed by his book, and probably didn't even notice. This was not what I wanted to happen. How did this even happen? One day everything's fine and dandy, then BOOM. I like Warren. How does that work? Why didn't I realize this sooner? I slowly started yanking out blades of grass in frustration and piled them on my stomach, making a nice rhythym. Yank, drop, yank, drop yank, drop, repeat the process.

When the bell rang I grabbed my bag, dusted the grass off of me, then practically ran into the school, not even bothering to wait for Warren. I walked to the girls' locker room as quickly as possible, and changed as fast as I could. Before putting my phone away, I sent a text to Magenta and Layla. _"I have to tell you something.. I like Warren. Meet me at the top of the bleachers and we'll talk."_

Up on the bleachers, Warren must've noticed me sitting at the top by myself because he started coming towards me. I was freaking out on the inside, suddenly getting butterflies in my stomach. Luckily, Magenta pushed him back down the steps while her and Layla came towards me, practically running. Nearly falling all over themselves to get to me, when they finally sat down both girls were breathless and had huge smiles on their faces. I sighed and Layla was the first to speak, "How long have you liked him?" she said the last part in a hushed tone, just in case anyone heard us. Even though we were at the very top and closest person was about 3 rows below us, you couldn't be too careful.

"I have no idea. It kind of just hit me today, I never thought about it. All of a sudden, things seemed different between us though. It's been like this all week, but today I actually did some thinking about it, and yeah." I finished rather lamely.

Magenta piped up with, "Well it kind of fits with what Layla told you yesterday right, about Warren looking at you a lot? Staring at you?"

Layla nodded her head excitedly in agreement and I mumbled an agreement before adding, "What do I do?"

The girls looked at each other and smirked before Layla answered with, "Easy. Win him over at the dance!"

I shook my head, "No, I'm only going to have fun with you and the others. Besides, what if he doesn't even like me?"

Mag rolled her eyes and said, "Of course he does, haven't you ever noticed? He scares off guys that look at you. I mean, I'm sure you've seen some cute guys around school right?" I nodded my head and she continued, "Well, haven't you ever wondered why they don't come up to you or anything? It's because one look from Warren and they know they won't stand a chance."

"Won't stand a chance of what though?"

"They won't stand a chance of getting around _him_, to _you_."

Layla put in, "She's right you know, Serena. A lot of guys look at you, but that's all they can do."

I was pissed, knowing that guys didn't try talking to me just because they were afraid of Warren. If a guy really wanted to get to know me, he'd try no matter what. I voiced this thought aloud, and both girls nodded in agreement. Magenta added, "But they also know they don't have a chance." I glared playfully at her and went on to watching the match below. But soon I was bored and found myself gazing at the back of Warren's head. I looked at his arms, which were clearly showing out of a loose orange muscle shirt. I tried not to smile as I remembered those arms wrapped around my waist, with his big hands curling around my sides, gripping me gently.

After school I lounged around, and made sure I had everything for the dance ready to go. I called Layla and asked if it was alright if I could go over later on and drop off my dress and things to get ready, since we going to be doing that at her house. She said it was fine, and that if I wanted I could just spend the night, because Magenta was going to be staying the night. I talked to my parents about it and they agreed, so I decided to wait a few hours before going over, it was still early in the afternoon.

Later on in the evening when I was getting my overnight bag ready, my phone started going off. I picked it up and saw that Magenta was calling me. "Hello?" I asked into the phone.

Mag's voice sounded urgent as she said, "Serena, you should get over here now. Layla's having some..trouble." she finished uncertainly.

"I'm on my way, hang tight." I hung up and finished getting everything I needed. I really wanted to fly to Layla's, but I had too much stuff to carry so I had to wait for my parents to drive. I'd never want a car when I could fly, it just seems like too much of a hassle. I finally got to Layla's house, and I knocked on the door almost frantically.

Mrs. Williams opened the door with a worried look on her face and told me the girls were in Layla's room. I smiled and thanked her before going up the stairs and going into Layla's room, which had the door wide open. I stopped short at the sight of Layla crying with a worried Magenta trying to console her. Going up closer I asked, "What happened?"

"Layla found out that Will doesn't like her, he just felt sorry for her." Magenta quietly answered.

"Who told you that?"

Layla spoke quietly, "Gwen told me. I went to talk to Will, or at least try to, but he was throwing a huge party. Only people from the Hero class were there, he didn't want to invite me because I'd just embarrass myself, because everyone knows that I like him. But now I can take the hint, I never want to see either of them." She broke down and started crying after that.

I frowned, _'I don't know Will, but I'm guessing that him and Layla have been good friends, what if Gwen was just saying all of this?'_ I told the girls about what I had just thought of and Layla said, "Either way, it worked. Because I'm not going to the dance anymore."

Magenta hurriedly said, "You have to go, to show him up. Prove that you don't need him and that you're strong and independent."

I smiled a bit and agreed, adding, "Besides, you've already got everything for the dance, and we're here to help you."

Layla smiled and wiped her face with a tissue, then said, "Yeah, you guys are right. Thank you so much."

I mock-groaned when they pulled me into a group hug, but we all laughed it off. Soon we made Layla forget all about what had happened earlier, and everything was going fine. Until her phone started going off every 5 minutes. She got up to check it, but blanched when she saw who was calling. We knew it was Will, and we told her not to pick up, to just leave the phone alone and as far away as possible. Magenta took the phone from Layla and put it in her overnight bag so Layla wouldn't be tempted to answer.

We were having a great time, watching movies, pigging out, and I listened as Layla and Magenta talked about things going on in the under class-men group. Then both girls turned to me with wicked smirks on their faces. I gave them a confused look, and they told me, "You're going to look so good tomorrow night that Warren will have to set the boys on fire just to keep them off."

"Uhh, how? You guys have seen my dress and shoes, they're nothing fancy."

Layla said, "We'll make it fancy! We can style your hair and do your nails, and use some make up!"

"My hair..?" I trailed off, reaching up to touch my long waves. "I didn't even think about what I was going to do with my hair!"

Magenta howled with laughter at my outburst before asking in between fits, "I thought you've been to school dances before?"

I said in an exasperated tone, "I have! But I'd go to the casual ones with my friends! Not the dances where you had to get all dressed up.."

Now it was Layla's turn to howl with laughter while Magenta smacked her forehead and mumbled something like, "You could've mentioned that sooner."

I shrugged and gave her a cheeky grin before turning to my bag so I could get changed into pajamas. My phone was going off in the midst of pulling clothes out and saw I got a text from Warren. Soon as I saw his name, my heart skipped a beat and my breathing got heavy. _'Why am I so nervous about a text?'_ I opened the phone and read it. _'Do you know if something's up with Hippie and Stronghold?'_

'_Why?'_

'_Just answer the question..'_

I raised an eyebrow and called the girls over, and asked Layla if it was alright to tell Warren. She nodded her head so I sent him a reply. _'Too long to text, call me?'_

About 10 minutes later, my phone started going off. It pretty much scared the crap out of me and I jumped because I hadn't been expecting it so suddenly. I hushed Layla and Magenta-who were laughing openly and loudly at me, then answered the phone. "Hello?" Warren asked. My breath was short at the sound of his voice, I blinked a few times before answering back, "Yeah, hey Warren. What's up?"

"Finished my shift at work a while ago. So tell me, what happened with Hippie and Stronghold?"

With a roll of my eyes I remarked, "Wow, you really cut to the chase, don't you?"

Layla and Magenta were laughing so much I had to tell them several times to keep it down so I could hear. Of course they didn't, and went to teasing me, I just hoped it wasn't loud enough that Warren could hear. "Well, long story short, Will knew about Layla's crush on him and doesn't want to talk to her or the other sidekicks because it's apparently embarrassing to him now. Oh, and he was only being nice to Layla because he knew she liked him..yeah."

"Huh, that's weird, he came by the Paper Lantern looking for her."

"He did?" I was really confused, why would Will go looking for Layla when he didn't want to talk to her?

Warren replied, "Yeah, he was going on about no going to the dance tomorrow and that he misses the kids."

'_Ok, now I really am confused..'_ I quickly looked at the girls, who had turned back to Layla's tv and were watching another movie. I made a motion to Magenta, and silently let her know I was going out of the room. I grabbed my clothes and went into the bathroom, then shut the door and asked "But.. Layla told us that Will had said he didn't invite Layla to his party because he didn't want to embarrass himself, or something like that."

I could hear Warren sigh, then he said, "Well, whatever. It's not my problem."

"Wait, but you're going to the dance with Layla aren't you?"

"I am, but it was only to make Stronghold jealous, and he told me he isn't gonna go anymore."

"Magenta and I talked to Layla though, and she's still gonna go. So you still have to go." I finished with a laugh.

Warren grunted before saying, "Fine. Are you going?"

I raised an eyebrow and slowly said, "No, I'm not."

He didn't say anything for a while, so I jumped slightly when I heard his voice say, "Why not?"

"Because I don't want to. I don't like dances, didn't even go to them at my old high school." Of course this was a lie, I was going to Homecoming, but I wanted it to be a surprise.

Warren quietly said,"Well, alright then. Umm.. Is it ok if I text you?"

I smiled and asked, "Why would you even think of asking that?"

"I dunno..But yeah, ok thanks."

"You're welcome hothead." and I hung up the phone. After I got changed I went back into Layla's room and sat down, idly playing with my phone. A small smile fought it's way onto my face as I saw the screen light up, telling me I had a new message. I slid my phone so the keypad showed and started typing a reply.

**...Warren's PoV...**

After hanging up the phone with Serena, I mentally berated myself. _'What the hell would make you ask permission to text her? My God!'_ I pulled my hands over my face and laid down on my bed. She wasn't going to Homecoming, which really sucked. I had been planning on asking her to dance with me, at least once. I thought back to when we were at school, and I saw the note with Will's name on it. All common sense had left me, and I nearly went into a rage, because the thought of Serena talking to other guys was _not_ something I liked. But instead I pulled her outside and made a fool of myself by over reacting. And it was all worth it. I still don't know what came over me, but when we were alone in that hallway, I saw her in a different light. I'd always known she was pretty, but today I realized how _beautiful_ she really was, inside and out. I had the sudden urge to kiss her, and instead I gave her a long hug. Feeling Serena wrap her arms around my neck and pull me tighter to her was the best I've felt in a long time.

Coming back to the present, I thought about our conversation on the phone. It was weird, how what she said happened to Layla sounded completely different from what Will had told me. Being too tired to attempt figuring it out, I went downstairs and got something to eat before climbing back up the stairs. When I walked back in, I saw that my phone was going off on my bed. Picking it up, I saw I had a text from Serena. I smiled and felt nervous, there were butterflies in my stomach, and they made me sort of jumpy. _'This is so weird..but I also kind of like it.'_

We had only texted for about an hour, before Serena said she was going to sleep, so we'd said our good-nights. I let out a puff of air and thought, _'I'm really starting to like her. This is starting to mess with me now, she's all I think about, I get jealous and angry at the fact that she talks to other guys_, _I get nervous when calling or texting her, I get fucking butterflies around h_e_r in person. I can't even think clearly when she's near me. This isn't good.'_

My mom knocked on the door softly before opening the door. I lifted my head up to see her and she said, "I brought something for you, honey." She had a garment bag in her arms, the kind you get when you're getting something back from the dry-cleaners. It was my dad's tux. I bit my lip and walked over to my mother, picking th bag up from her arms and unzipping it. "Try it on, see how it looks." my mom urged gently with small tears in her eyes. I undid the zipper and put the white button-up shirt on, then the vest. Both fit fine, and then I put the tie on and tugged it into place. It didn't look too bad, _'Luckily I'm as tall and big as he is.'_ I thought with a grim smile.

Mom made a choking noise as I was taking the vest and other garments off. I turned around worriedly, and saw that she was crying, her small shoulders shaking uncontrollably. "Oh mom.." I muttered. There was nothing I could say to cheer her up so I merely walked over and held her silently until the tears and shaking stopped. When they did I pulled back and said, "Better?"

My mom nodded while batting at her eyes and said, "Yes, I'm better. You just look so much like him, Warren."

I smiled tightly, "Yeah, I know. And I miss him too, ma."

She smiled softly and nodded again, walking out of the room quietly. I slumped down onto the carpeted floor and raked my fingers through my hair. _'How did my life all of a sudden become so upside-down?'_ I thought while my mind was going through memories of my father.

_**..Flashback..**_

_I was 12 years old, and school was out for the summer. It was some day in the middle of June, I'd stopped keeping track of the days a short while ago, since they didn't matter anymore. My father woke me up one hot morning with a shake of my shoulder and, "Warren, wake up. C'mon son, you gotta get up. Time to start the day." I groaned and pushed myself up out of bed. I looked up at my dad through blurry eyes and saw him smiling down at me, his face full of warmth and love. _

_I followed him downstairs and we ate breakfast, then went outside to start training. We were in the filed, facing each other with about 40 feet of space between us. "Warren, I want you to throw as many fire balls as you can at me. I want you to throw fast as you can, one right after the other, alright son?" Dad called out to me. Nodding my head, I generated a fire ball as fast as I could and hurled it at my father, but he stepped out of the way just in time. I made another one and ran at him before hurling it straight at his chest, but he sidestepped that one also. This went on for a few minutes before I was so drained that I wasn't even able to ignite my hands._

_We took a break, making sandwiches and chugging cold water out in the field, since Mom wouldn't let us go in the house all sweaty and dirty. "Hey Dad?" I asked, lookin up at his tall, built frame, which I hope I would be able to inherit someday. "Yeah, son?" he asked, still chewing on the last of his sandwich. _

"_Am I gonna be as strong as you, and be a hero like you?"_

_Dad chuckled, "It all depends on what you want to do, Warren. If you want to save peoples' lives and help others, then you can become the greatest hero in the world."_

_I grinned and said, "I'm gonna be stronger than you one day!"_

_I made a face of discomfort as my dad ruffled my hair and said, "Sure you are son."_

_After our break Dad and I ran for a bit, then did a few push-ups and crunches. Going back inside, my dad said, "That was a good work out, Warren. You did better than you usually do, just keep going at it and soon you'll be able to do more with your powers." He patted my head and went into the house._

_**...End Flashback...**_

I shook my head and opened my eyes sleepily, then winced when my chest clenched in pain at the memory of that day. There were never enough days like those, of just me and my father. He was rarely lenient on me during training sessions, it seemed like he was trying to push me harder and faster every day we had them, because he knew that his time with me and Mom was running out, and he wanted to make the most of it. I never hated my dad for what he did or for any other reason, I learned to push him out of my mind, so it wouldn't be as bad when I did think about him. We weren't allowed to visit him, but we could write letters, and I wrote him one recently but had yet to receive a response.

I looked at the clock and realized how late it was, and decided to get to bed, since I had to be up early for training, then get ready for Homecoming. It didn't start until 7:00, and though busses were gonna be there to pick kids up at 6:30, my mom was going to drop me off since she had one of those super cars that could fly. I personally didn't like that car, or anything flying when it's made to stay on the ground. I growled in annoyance, thinking of things that flew was making me think about Serena again. I got up and crawled into bed, thanking the stars that after tomorrow all this nonsense was going to be _over_.

**A/N: What'd you guys think? I spent a lot of time on Serena, because I feel like I've been neglecting her and only focusing on Warren (can you blame me though?). So I spent a lot more time on her this chapter. I know Warren's PoV was short, but there was a flashback, so I think that makes up for the shortness. Reviews are always welcome!**


	13. Homecoming

**A/N: I'm glad all of you loved the last chapter. Now.. *drumroll* The chapter you've all been waiting for.. *cymbal crash* HOMECOMING! Wooo! Yeeaaahh! Crap, I've been waiting for this as much as you guys have, hahaha. **

**Chapter 13: Let's Dance **

**...Warren's PoV...**

'_I'd say that was the best work out I've had in a while'_ I thought as I walked back inside, finished with my exercises. It was around 2 in the afternoon, I'd decided to train longer than usual because my boss gave me the weekend off, so I wouldn't have to worry about being late tonight or waking up early tomorrow. After taking a hot shower and getting dressed in a clean wife-beater and shorts, I sat in the living room. I honestly don't know how long I sat there, but I must've been in some sort of trance, because I jumped when Oliver sprang up into my lap. _'What the fuck do I do?'_ I thought with a frown, _'Shit, maybe I do need a social life..' _Grumbling up the stairs with Oli in my arms, I kicked shut the door to my room and sat at my desk. _'Holy Jesus my life is boring.'_ I'd never given anything about that aspect of my life much thought, because I hadn't had friends since middle school.Going on 3 years of solitude, I didn't care about that stuff. But then Serena had to come around and.. Walk into my life. Which I didn't really mind, because she was cool. And smart, and funny, and really, very pretty.I sighed in defeat, I didn't know what I was going to do about my situation with her. Telling her wasn't an option, because there's no way Serena would go for someone as fucked up and I am. She was way too good for me, I sometimes even wondered why she was my friend; it's not like I'm always the easiest person to talk to or get along with. But I guess like any good friendship, there were always days when we didn't get along and days when we did.

An hour later, I was laying on the floor of my room, on my stomach, with a pack of crayons and a coloring book. I'd decided to walk to the store a few blocks away and looked around, nothing really catching my eye. I had really just bought the pack and book on a whim. The look on the cashier's face as she rang up my items was comical. But then she looked at me and tried looking "sedcutive" or whatever, and tried flirting with me. I just inwardly sighed and resisted the urge to roll my eyes, and finally did when I was walking out of the store. I was currently working on filling in the spikes on a stegosourus' tail, when my mom walked in. "Warren, do you-" I looked up at her and saw she had frozen in the doorway. "Yeah, mom, what is it?" She didn't say anything, but started laughing so hard she doubled over. I blinked, "Uhh, Mom?"

"I'm sorry honey, it's just-" she took a deep breath, "so unexpected, seeing you with a coloring book. Like you were a little boy again." She gasped out.

I smiled wryly, then started chuckling along with her, she was right. It probably did look pretty funny.Mom finished laughing and said, "I was going to ask you what you wanted for dinner, since we'll be eating early tonight."

I shrugged, "Italian?"

"Sure, what sort of Italian do you feel like having?"

"Hmm.. Fettuccini with Alfredo sauce and grilled chicken?"

Mom smiled and said, "Mmm, that does sound good. I'll run to the store and pick up what we need, you can start getting the pots and strainer ready in the mean time."

I nodded and followed her downstairs, veering into the kitchen as she went out the door with a yell of, "Don't forget to make sure the pot doesn't over flow when you boil the water!"

I was getting the pots and other things we'd need when my phone started vibrating in my pocket. Again, I got slight butterflies when I saw the text was from Serena. I put the cooking tools on the stove and quickly sent a reply before grabbing one pot and filling it about half way with water, then set it back on the stove and turned the burner on to get it going. Soon I was alternating between getting things ready and talking to the girl I'd fallen for. Getting everything ready was taking longer than usual, because of it though, but I didn't care. I really wanted to see Serena, since I wasn't going to see her until Monday at school. I bit my lip (A/N: *drools at mental image of this*) but decided against asking her if she wanted to come over. I did _not_ want my mom thinking there was something between us, even though there wasn't.

When Mom came home with everything, I had set the table, and had started making the garlic bread. We worked silently, Mom making the pasta and heating up the sauce while I worked on the chicken. Everything was ready to eat in about half an hour, and Mom and I sat down to enjoy.

"Warren, are you looking forward to the dance tonight? You've never been to one, and I'm sort of surprised that you're starting to socialize."

I smiled a bit, "I'm going with this girl named Layla, she's a freshman and didn't have anyone to go with." I lied smoothly.

Ma nodded her head, "So do you like this girl, this Layla?"

I nearly choked on the chicken in my mouth. I sputtered a reply, "No, I don't. I'm only going with her as a favor and that's it."

"Oh, well at least you made a friend, honey. I know how hard it's been for you."

I scowled and replied, "I don't like those kids at school anyways. Before high school no one knew who my father was, everything was normal as could be. But once I got in Sky High, the kids there immediately judged me and assumed I was going to turn out like Dad."

I shouldn't have mentioned him, but it's true. That was the reason every one hated me or feared me from the day I set foot in Sky High. My mom winced when I said this, but said, "I know they did honey, and I'm so sorry you had to go through that. But did you ever try to make friends there?"

My eyes narrowed a bit, I usually never got mad at Mom, we rarely got into fights, but she wasn't understanding. Breathing slowly through my nose, I said, "No, mom. Because I had it figured since the first day of school my freshman year that _no one_ was going to try and talk to me once."

She was going to reply, but I cut her off, "No. I don't want to hear it. Since that first day in Power Placement, when Boomer called me up, and the rest of the kids started whispering or shying away from me, saying flat-out fucked up shit about me and my father, I knew I wasn't going to make any friends." I added, "Sorry about the cursing." as an afterthought.

I glanced up at my mom. The whole time I said that, I'd been staring straight ahead, remembering all of the teasing, glares, whispers, and shoving into lockers that had been my life at Sky High for the first year. It wasn't until I got into fights that kids finally learned to leave me alone. Because I was dangerous, a potential menace to society, an innocent kid branded as a "first class fuck-up" because of what his father did.

My mom looked at me with sadness, and I almost couldn't take it. I didn't want anyone's pity, I didn't _need_ anyone's pity. Not from her, fellow students, and not from teachers. With a heavy sigh my mom said, "Honey, you think I don't know what you went through when you first started at your school? The school called me every day to make sure you were alright, or if there was anything I wanted to tell them about how you felt. I never said anything because you refused to talk about it whenever I asked."

Next thing I knew, my hand was on fire, singing the tablecloth. I roared, "_They what?_"

"Warren! Calm down now!"

"_They called and you never told me? How could you not tell me?_" my fist slammed down on the table.

"Warren, you need to calm down. I'm not going to talk until you power down."

I was in a fierce staring match with Mom, neither of us backed down. Mom quietly said, "You never talked about it, son. I knew you were going through a tough time, I wanted to be there for you, but you never let me in. You were just so angry."

Again, my flaming fist met the table, and the fire spread up my arm. "I would've talked if you'd at least tried, Mom. But you never did."

Mom's stare turned hard, and all of a sudden, I felt my mind was being attacked as she sorted through my memories. _'Can't let her know about Serena.'_ I fought back, trying to block my mind from her onslaught, there was a fierce pain all around my head as if someone were hacking away at my skull with an ice pick. It was a physical pain that robbed me of my breath. I was barely able to fight her off.

She looked at me in shock as we stared at each other, I was panting heavily and had laid my forehead against the table. My mom had never attacked my mind before. Not knowing what to do, I stood up from the table and went upstairs to my room. I sat on my bed, thinking, _'What the hell just happened? Did I really just have a fight with Mom?'_ I couldn't believe what'd happened, we had never had any sort of falling out like that, not even when I was younger. With a sigh, I got stood up and started going back downstairs to apologize.

I walked into the kitchen and saw Mom was putting away some of the leftovers in the fridge. I took a deep breath and said, "Mom? You know.. You know I didn't mean to overreact like that right? It just-it took me by surprise and I didn't reel in the anger in time. So I kinda exploded. I'm sorry."

Mom looked at me with a small smile and answered, "Warren, honey I know you didn't mean it. And it's partially my fault too. I should have told you about it before, and stopped asking you about socializing. And I'm sorry for trying to go through your memories, that was wrong of me."

I nodded my head, "Umm. I think I should start getting ready for the dance now." and went back upstairs to start. I took another shower, shaved some stubble that was growing in, then went into my room to get dressed. I tucked my tie into my vest and looked at my reflection in my full-length mirror. _'I really do look like Dad. I wonder what he would say if he was here.'_ I thought as I glanced at the small framed picture on my bedside table. It was a picture of me and my parents, just a month before my dad was captured. We were at the park, all smiling, Dad had an arm around Mom's waist and a hand on my shoulder. I looked like the spitting image of my father, even back then, especially because both of us had our hair cropped short. I didn't start growing it out until summer before sophomore year.

When it was time to leave, I went downstairs and waited for my mom to be ready to go. The ride to Sky High was silent, we didn't speak to each other. It wasn't awkward or tense, there was just a comfortable silence that neither of us wanted to break. When we got to the school, I got out and thanked my mom, then went up the steps. There weren't many kids lingering around in the hallways, they all went straight towards the gym. I followed them and thought, _'How the hell am I supposed to find Hippie in a crowd like this?'_ as I got to the entrance of the gym and saw all the kids on the floor. It was packed, the majority of kids were dancing, some were at the tables with food and drinks, and then some more were at the tables just sitting and talking. I quickly scanned the crowd and found her at a table, talking to some man serving drinks, I guess he must have been a Hero Support teacher. I quickly walked over to her, and heard her say, "The guys at this school are jerks." "Thanks a lot." I said over the loud music.

She turned to me with a look of surprise. I had to admit, Hippie was pretty, but in her own way that didn't appeal to me. Layla looked me over with surprise and said with a smile, "I thought you said you weren't gonna rent a tux?"

I leaned in so I could be heard and answered, "It's my dad's. He doesn't have much use for it in solitary."

The look on her face was priceless, she didn't know what to do or say, so she turned around and held something out to me. "Cheesecube?" she asked nervously.

I smiled and took it, popped it into my mouth and said, "You know I'm not gonna dance with you or anything, right?"

Layla nodded, "I wasn't expecting you to," she smirked, "it's a shame Serena isn't here."

I glared and got another cube. Gwen had been making some speech because Stronghold's parents were getting another award. I hadn't really been paying attention because I was too focused on the food and ignoring the fact that Serena wasn't here. Zach nudged me and I turned around as Gwen was saying, "We planned a special tribute to the most powerful super-being ever to walk to halls of Sky High." She walked out from behind the podium, "Me!" and with a flourish, was in some sort of armored suit. People gasped and backed away as she shot beams of electricity from her hands. Giant signs saying "Royal" and "Pain" came out on either side of the stage. Next thing I knew, Gwen-Royal Pain, whoever she was-started shooting people with a laser beam. I thought they'd get burned or something, but they were turned into babies. _'Original. Terrifying as fuck, but this is something new.'_ I had to giver her props on that at least.

Kids scrambled to get out of the gym so they wouldn't get hit, but as they got to the exits, Lash, Speed, and a multiple of Penny's were bringing down the gates, closing everyone in. Kids and adults were getting shot left and right, turning into little infants. Boomer told me to find an exit, and we all tried finding one. I saw a vent, so I stopped everyone and threw a ball of fire at, blasting off the little cover.

I was the last one in, and no one could tell where we were going. I heard Magenta say something, but didn't pay much attention. Ethan said from in front of me, "Hey Warren, how 'bout a torch?"

"Only if you wanna get barbecued." I couldn't tell how far in front of me Ethan was, and I didn't want to risk any injuries.

All of a sudden, Zach started glowing this bright green, like a glow-stick, and made his way up to the front. We crawled for God-knows-how-long, and then finally I heard something up ahead. It looked like Zach had found the other side, and someone had ripped the cover off of it. Slowly, everyone started carefully crawling through the opening. I was surprised to see that Stronghold was on the other side, he'd said that he wasn't gonna come to the dance.

"Guys, you're never gonna believe this-" He started.

Layla cut in, "Is Royal Pain's daughter."

Will breathed, "Yeah, and-"

My turn, "She stole the Pacifier."

"Yeah, and-"

This time it was Zach as he said, "She turned everyone into babies, including your parents dude."

"Ok, that I didn't know."

Layla remarked, "I think this is even more than the great Will Stronghold can handle."

He nodded, "She's right, it's gonna take all of us."

Magenta piped up, "All of who? You and Warren? The rest of us are only sidekicks."

Will countered, "Just because you have powers, that doesn't make you a hero. Sometimes it just makes you a jerk, makes me a jerk. I guess what I'm trying to say is-"

Layla smiled, "We get it, you've been a jerk."

I crossed my arms in annoyance as Will said, "Layla, in case my Homecoming date doesn't kill me tonight, I just want you to know." He pulled Layla to him and kissed her. _'About fucking time, kids.'_

I heard a voice sneer, "Isn't that sweet? I hate hate sweet." It was Penny. She was standing down the hall form us with Lash and Speed by her side. "You guys are a part of this too. Why am I not surprised?" Will wondered aloud.

Taking off my coat jacket (A/N: *drools again at image*), I told Will, "Go take care of Gwen, we'll handle these clowns."

Will ran through the walls to find Gwen, and I glared at the kids in front of me. _'What did that girl do to get them into this?'_ I powered up, silently challenging them. Speed ran past me, making me spin around for a few seconds before I steadied myself and ran after him. I chased after him, trying not to let the blur out of my sight.

As I ran I hurled fireballs in rapid succession at him, but he still managed to dodge them all. He was taunting me, yelling "Hey! Hit me! I'm right here!" before zooming around me. I couldn't get a clear shot at all, he was too fast. Speed was running at me, I saw Ethan walk out of the bathroom, then melt to the floor. Speed slipped on the orange good Ethan had become, and I was able to get a shot at him. I sent a fire ball straight to his fat ass and watch as he was sent through the wall. Ethan came up next to me. "Way to go, Popsicle." I said as we high-fived. Ethan grinned at me and we went to find the others.

We ran into Layla, who had met up with Zach and Magenta. I stood back as they were figuring out some sort of plan to stop whatever Royal Pain had dome to mess with the anti-gravity device.

All of a sudden, I heard the sound of feet running down the wall and turned around to see who it was. My heart stopped as I saw Serena run up to us, breathless as she said, "Hey guys. What'd I miss?"

**...Serena's PoV...**

'_Shit shit shit shit shit. I'm late!'_ I screamed in my head as I flew through the night sky to the school dance. I'd gotten ready with Layla and Magenta, but my mom had called and said that I needed to watch Zeus for a few minutes before I could go to the dance. I flapped as hard and as fast as I could. I finally made it, but stopped short, hanging in mid-air as I looked down at the school. The front window was broken through, and there was a bus being loaded with what looked like.. _'Babies? What's going on?'_ I carefully flew through the window, careful not to make any sound or scrape my wings on the glass. I had this feeling of weariness, something bad had happened here. I landed and retracted my wings, listening for any sort of sound that would indicate someone was here. Soon I heard the sound of voices, and followed it cautiously, and was relieved to find out it was Layla and the rest of the gang. I started running, zig-zagging through halls and giant holes in the walls to get to them. Finally, they were just down the hall! I ran as fast as I could, and saw a big, hulking figure turn around and look at me. I nearly tripped at the sight of Warren as he stared at me. But I ran on and when I finally reached them, I realized how out-of-breath I was as I said, "Hey guys. What'd I miss?"

They all looked up at me with surprise, and Magenta said, "What took you so long to get here?"

I shrugged, "My parents. Made me take care of some stuff before I could leave."

Ethan filled me in on what had happened, apparently Will's crazy girlfriend had turned the entire school into babies, and now Will was fighting her. Oh, and I guess Layla and Will are now together. I nudged Magenta and grinned, "Finally!" Layla turned red and bit back, "Now we have to see about you, Serena." I stopped laughing and stared at her. She smiled back and went back to figuring out how to stop the school from falling.

I stood up and went over to Warren. _'He's staring at me, why is he staring at me?'_ I thanked the gods that I was tan and my blush wasn't visible. "Umm.. Hi." was my lame greeting. I looked up at him and saw something in his expression, but I couldn't tell what. I felt as if a wall of dizziness hit me as he spoke in his low voice, "Hey. I thought you said you weren't gonna come to the dance."

I did an over exaggerated shrug and held up my hands saying, "Surprise?" with a small smile. Warren fought a smile but was soon grinning as he pulled me into a hug with a chuckle. "I'm glad you're here." he whispered so only I could hear. I whispered back, "I am too." and squeezed my arms around his middle tighter. He let go and we watched as Ethan, Magenta, and Zach went to go fix the anti-gravity problem. Layla turned to us and said, "We have to go find Will."

We ran towards the gym, and got there just as Will was about to seriously put the beat-down on Gwen-er, Royal Pain. Layla shouted to Will and he looked up at us, but Royal Pain used that to her advantage as she punched Will and sent him through the window, falling to the earth. I sprouted my wings and tried to get a running start towards the window, but Warren caught my arm and held me back. I growled at him to let me go, but to no avail.

Royal Pain laughed at the defeated look on Layla's face and said, "And there goes your last of stopping me." Layla stepped foward, saying, "We'll see about that." But Warren also held her back. All of a sudden, Will popped up outside the window! "Surprised?" he asked as Royal Pain turned around, "So am I."

Royal Pain exclaimed, "You're flying?" as Will sped towards her. He flew into her, picking her up, then dropping her down onto the gym floor, where she landed with a _thud_. She looked knocked out as Will broke her mask off, he'd beaten Royal Pain.

Will got up and came towards us, Layla hugged him while Warren patted his arm and I copied Warren's gesture. All of a sudden, there was a big _woosh _and we dropped to the floor of the gym. Layla yelled, "The school is falling!" Will ran and zoomed up, and dove down to reach the bottom of the school. I started going after him, but Warren yelled, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" "I'm gonna go help Will!" I called as I ran after Stronghold. I flew through the window and dove as fast as I could, meeting Will on the bottom of the school. The school was already slowing down a little bit, and while I didn't have super-strength like Will did, I helped a bit too.

We were falling too fast. Soon I was pressed against the bottom of the school, one of my wings accidentally hitting Will in the face. He was like me not long after, as we got closer and closer to the earth. I screamed in fear, I tried to stop but I couldn't help myself. I could clearly see the houses now, we got closer, and were going to land on top of a house. The owners of it were screaming as well, I tried yelling at them to move out of the way, but I couldn't say anything. All of a sudden, the pressure of the school was lighter, Will and I were able to lift the school as our feet touched the roof.

The civilians looked at us in awe and fear. Will breathed a sigh of relief, "Whew, that could have been messy." I nodded in agreement. "Well, goodnight." Will then started pushing the school back up into the sky. I tried helping him, but could tell I wasn't actually doing any help so I asked him, "Will, is it ok if I leave you to do this"

He looked at me and said, "Why don't you just fly next to the school, tell me where to stop?"

"Sure thing." I took off and went in a wide circle around the giant platform our school was on. I waited until he had the school in the spot where I guessed it normally was, out of view from planes and other flying things civilians used, then told him to stop. He dropped his arms and flew over next to me, and we floated there, admiring what we'd done.

I turned to him and said, "So how's it feel to fly now?"

Will shrugged, "Well, seeing as the first time I used it I had to fight, and push a school back up into the air, with no real way of actually knowing _how_ to fly, I'd say it was pretty amazing."

I laughed and said, "That's the best way to learn. Don't worry, it comes naturally."

He nodded, "Probably. Race you back to the school?"

We grinned mischievously, then bolted as fast as we could to the front lawn of Sky High. I cork-screwed around him, trying to get him off course, and for a while it worked but he came to his senses and just did the same to me. We laughed as we did that until we got to the school, where every one was waiting outside.

As soon as I touched down, Warren walked over to me. We just stood there, staring at each other, and I finally got a good look at him. _'Whoa, he should wear these more often.'_ I thought as I took in his messed up dress shirt, black tie, vest, and everything else. I looked up at him and saw he had a smirk on his face. Warren said, "Like what you see?" as he stepped closer to me.

I was frozen dumb, all I could do was nod. Warren's smirk grew bigger, he was so close I could almost feel him against me. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Good, because I like what I see too." before pressing a light kiss to my cheek. I looked at him, into his deep brown eyes. Something was there, almost showing, but then it was hidden. I took a deep breath and blinked rapidly. When I stopped, he was helping the others get the babies out of the bus they'd been put into.

I shook my head and calmed myself before heading over. Layla put the last baby down and said, "What now?" Will shrugged and said, "Beats me."

Warren was holding the car-seat that Medulla was in, only he still had a big head, which was weird. "Perhaps I can be of assistance," he said in a tiny voice, "it should only take me a couple of hours to reconfigure the Pacifier. Mr. Peace, would you please carry me to the Mad Science lab?"

"Sure."

"And Mr. Peace."

"Yeah?"

"Regrettably, I have made boom-boom." Medulla said with a weird smile. We all backed up away from him, and watched Warren walked away with a look of extreme un-comfort on his face. I looked around and asked, "So what do we until Medulla fixes that thing?"

Magenta suggested, "Get all the babies inside, start lining them up to be turned back to normal."

So we all hauled the babies into the school, we took them into the gym and waited. When Medulla was done with the Pacifier, we started taking in babies and changed them back to normal. Zach and Ethan brought in stacks of towels from the gym supply room, and as people started turning back into themselves, they were given a towel and told to go and find their clothes.

Once a good number of people were de-Pacified, we breathed a sigh of relief. I stood leaning on the wall, watching as people went to and from the Mad Science room, calling out for people and trying to find their things. I watched as Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold went up to the gang and said something, but I couldn't hear what it was. They turned to leave, and were soon gone.

Medulla and Principal Powers called everyone into the gym once they were sure that all the people were back to their normal selves. As we went in, Warren nudged me and smiled. I nudged him back and quickly swerved away so he couldn't do it again. He laughed and shook his head, and we kept walking in silence.

Once every one was gathered, Medulla made a short, quick speech about how he de-Pacified all of the kids, and destroyed the Pacifier for good, ending with, "Let's boogie!" as the music started again. Kids started dancing, and even Ethan was dancing with a girl. I smiled as I watched him, and wandered around the gym, taking it all in. _'What a night.'_ I thought as I collapsed into an empty chair. I rubbed my temples and looked up when a pair of shoes entered my line of sight. It was Warren, back in his suit jacket. He sat down next to me, and we watched as Magenta got up with Zach to dance. I sighed to myself in content, everything had worked for her and Layla, and I was glad for them.

A few minutes had gone by, and both of us had still been sitting in silence, not saying anything, but sharing a smile when we made eye contact. Soon the DJ said that this was gonna be the last song of the night, and of course, it was a slow song. Warren looked at me and said, "Do you want to dance?"

I sighed, "Honestly, I just want to sleep. What a fucking day this has been."

Warren laughed and agreed, "Tell me about it. I'm sleeping for the rest of the weekend, that's for sure."

I nodded and got up, holding my hand out to him in a silent question. He rolled his eyes and got up himself, leading me to the dance floor with his hand on my lower back. I looked up and him and asked, "What?"

Warren didn't say anything as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him, so I just shrugged and put my hands around his neck, playing with his hair. He said, "The boy is supposed to offer his hand to the lady, not the other way around."

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh. Oops. Well, since this is the last song of the night, we can't start over. So I guess we'll have to wait until the next dance."

Warren looked at me in surprise and said, "What are you talking about?"

I put my forehead on his chest and mumbled, "I guess I'm asking you to the next dance with me, whenever that is."

I felt Warren put his fingers under my chin as he pulled my chin up so I had to look at him. He whispered, "I would love to." and pressed a light kiss to my lips. I was blank. Before I could react he pulled away and gave me a warm smile. I snapped out of it and smiled back at him before putting my head on his chest and let the butterflies in my stomach go free. _'I can't believe..he just..'_ I couldn't form a coherent thought, and his scent wasn't helping. Spices and cinnamon, I didn't think I'd be able to get over it, I couldn't get enough of it. I reached up on my tip-toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek before laying my head back down.

Everyone was leaving, I stayed back a bit with Will and the rest of the group, we just talked about what had happened and how great everything had turned out in the end. Layla must've noticed Warren's arm wrapped around my waist because I saw her nudge Magenta and point to me. They both grinned at me and gave me thumbs-up signs, then started laughing. I just smiled and didn't say anything, I was too tired.

**A/N: I was going to stop after Warren's PoV ended, but I didn't want to torture you guys with waiting (I couldn't wait either) and decided to keep going. Now, read carefully. This is not the end of the story, I will continue from here. Repeat: This. Is. Not. The. End. I'm going to write more as soon as I can.** **I love you all, and I hope you review this, and keep reviewing. They make my day. You guys rock!**


	14. What Now?

**A/N: I had everything had planned out, but these characters all have minds of their own, so I'm gonna follow what they say. In my plan for this story, Warren and Serena were not supposed to kiss yet, but like I said, those they wanted to do something else. So we'll just see what happens with these two :) Hope you enjoy!**

**P.S. I'm super sorry it's taken me so long to update, I've been doing state testing at school for the past 4 weeks, and since this year's scores are going on our transcripts, I was actually taking it seriously. There was also a scene I wrote but decided it was all wrong so I re-wrote it. And I've been dealing with my depression, it came back and lasted a long time, so I lost the will to write for a few weeks.**

**Chapter 14:** **What Now?**

... Serena's PoV...

Monday morning, I woke up feeling happy beyond reason. Warren and I hadn't actually said out loud that we had feelings for each other, and we didn't need to, there was an understanding there that I was glad we had. I spent yesterday doing chores at home, but Warren and I talked all day.

I got dressed in my favorite pair of jeans and a simple white V-neck shirt, then put on my Converse and went downstairs. I got some breakfast and grabbed my bag on the way out the door. When I landed at school I went inside and walked through the crowds to get to my locker, people started coming up to me, thanking me and clapping me on the back, smiling at me. I didn't know what to do so I just smiled back and didn't say anything. Layla and Magenta were standing near my locker, waiting for me. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" I asked as I started putting in the combination.

"Do you know what's going on?" Layla asked nervously.

"What, everyone saying stuff and being nice? That's happening to you guys too?"

Magenta nodded and said, "Yep. I guess some people figured out that we kinda saved the school."

Layla dead panned, "Magenta, we _did_ save the school."

I laughed at that, and got my textbook and binder out. "Well, it's not really important, so I guess we should just ignore this until it goes away. No big deal."

They agreed as the bell to go to first rang, we said our goodbyes and left to go to our classes. I got to first and sat down with a frown on my face. _'This'll probably just blow over, it shouldn't last too long.'_ Class flew by and soon it was time to go to second period. With a quick stop at my locker I made my way to Mad Science, nervous and shy at seeing Warren for the first time since the dance. I walked into class and saw that Warren was already sitting at our table, but there were some girls eyeing him. I glared at the group of girls, and then one of them got up and sat next to Warren, who'd been reading and had been oblivious to everything. If I remembered correctly, the girl was Jessica, who could control ice.

She sat next to Warren and started talking to him. I couldn't hear what she said to him, but he responded with a quick answer. I walked around tables until I got to mine and Warren's table, where Jessica looked up at me in annoyance. I spared her a glance and said, "Excuse me, you're in my seat."

Jessica replied, "So? I can sit where I want."

"Not when I've been sitting here since the beginning of school. You've never bothered sitting near this table. Why now."

She rolled her eyes and stood up and motioned for me to follow her, telling Warren, "I'll be back." I swear, I almost threw up in my mouth at the tone of her voice. We got away from where Warren sat and Jessica turned on me, saying, "Look, I've had a crush on Warren Peace since last year, and when I finally got up the nerve to ask him to dance with me at Homecoming, he only did for like, two minutes. I looked around and I saw you two together. I've been waiting for a year to have a chance with him and I _will not let you mess this up_." she hissed the last part with a bit of a threat in her voice.

I muttered under my breath, "I think I already did."

Jessica glared at me and sneered, "What did you say? You think you have a chance with Warren Peace? Ha, please. He's only been friends with you this long out of pity. Soon he'll realize that I'm a much more fun person to be around, and he'll stop hanging out with you."

I couldn't think of anything to say to that, so I just shrugged. Jessica went on, "Stay away from me, and stay away from Warren." she glared at me until it looked like her message got across, then went to sit with her friend.

'_Girls are so fucking weird, acting like guys are territory or something.'_ I shook my head, going back to my table and taking a seat with Warren.

We didn't say much to each other, too busy taking notes during Medulla's lecture, but as we were walking to Undercover Strategies, he said, "You're a threat." I had no idea what he meant, and I thought it best to be quiet until I could talk to him properly. Once class had started, I scribbled a note to Warren,

"_What'd you mean when you said that I was a threat?"_

I passed it to him and watched out of the corner of my eye as he read it and wrote back. He handed me the note silently, and I opened it to read.

"_Jessica, and basically all the other girls at this school see you as a threat because you're always with me. And apparently you ruin the chances they think they have with me."_

Fighting not laugh out loud and interrupt the silence as everyone did their work, I wrote.

"_Oh you've got to be kidding me. That's really why they don't like me? And why I'm a 'threat'? Girls are ridiculous sometimes!"_

"_Yeah, you'd think they would know that if I'm only hanging out with one girl it's because I'm interested in her and no one else."_

I smiled and felt a feeling of warmth and nervousness come over me. This was Warren's way of saying out loud-or writing out loud- that he did like me. I didn't expect him to say it to my face, he was the type to show affection rather than say it aloud.

"_Aww, you're sweet."_

He wrote back with a smirk on his lips and handed it to me with a sneaky grin.

"_I wasn't talking about you."_

Did he really just say that to me? What was he playing at? I didn't know what to do so I leaned back in my desk and stared at the white-board on the room's front wall. I saw Warren drop a piece of paper on my desk, different from the one we'd been writing on.

"_Serena, you should know when I'm joking by now. You know that I like you, a lot. You're smart (sometimes), funny, adorable, annoying, too hyper at times, and kind. You understand me better than most, when we met you didn't make assumptions about me and didn't ask about my past, and still don't. I can never thank you enough for that. By the way, once you're done reading this sappy mess, I'm burning it."_

"You're not really going to-" I was cut off as Warren reached over and ignited a small flame over his finger and held it to the paper, burning it to black crisps. He settled back into his seat and smirked at me. I huffed and went to the note that wasn't burned, and wrote a response.

"_Well, so much for keeping the note. Thanks a lot. Write me another one?"_

"_No."_

"Pleeeaase?" I whined/whispered to him. Warren looked over at me, then went back to his work without saying a word. "Fine. Be that way." I muttered as I grudgingly turned to our paper that was due at the end of class. The bell rang 20 minutes later and we all slowly made our way to Mrs. Falkner's desk, putting the pages in a stack as we left for lunch.

I followed Warren to his locker and leaned against the wall as he put his things away, then we went to go to mine. I just turned the corner, with Warren slightly behind me, when Will smacked into me, knocking me over. He and Warren knelt down as I slowly sat up, rubbing my head in pain. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you Serena! Are you ok?" Will asked.

"Huh, yeah dude. I'm ok.." I muttered, still in shock and pain. Warren looked at his friend-or rather, acquaintance, and said, "Stronghold, watch where you're going next time, got it?"

Will nodded his head, then looked at me and asked, "You sure you're ok?" I nodded my head. He looked relieved, and apologized again before getting up to leave. Warren offered a hand out to help me up, and I gladly accepted it. Next thing I knew, I was flush against his built torso. I shook my head and looked up at Warren. He just softly pushed me away and said with a smirk, "Sorry, didn't mean to pull you up that fast."

I rolled me eyes, "Yeah you did, don't pretend."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oook, big guy, whatever." I said with a laugh as I turned around to go towards the cafeteria. We got our food then went to sit outside under our usual tree. While we were eating, Damon came over to us and quietly said, "Hey Serena, can I talk to you?" I put my food down and smiled as I replied, "Sure Damon, what's up?" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and looked down at his feet. _'I know he's shy, but this is pretty weird, even for him.'_ I thought with slightly raised eyebrows.

"Um.. I was wondering if maybe sometime you'd like to hang out after school?" he said hurriedly.

I opened my mouth to say yes, but Warren cut me off with a scary-as-hell, "No." and a glare at Damon. I shot him a look and said, "I can speak for myself, thanks." Damon slowly inquired, "Soo.. Is that a no?"

Warren said, "That's a no."

I glared at him, "What the hell, Warren?" I turned to Damon, "I'll let you know, ok?"

Damon looked uncomfortable as he said, "Umm. On second thought, I don't think Warren would like me taking you out. Just forget it. I'll see you around, Serena."

I sighed and nodded and Damon turned around and left. I turned to Warren and glared more forcefully, saying, "Why'd you do that Warren?"

"Because he likes you, and he'd ask you out on a date if given the time."

I scoffed, "Oh please, don't be so paranoid. You don't see me acting like that with Jessica do you? And anyways, Damon and I are just friends, nothing more."

Warren's eyebrows met and he frowned, but didn't say anything. I went on to say, "I'm not interested in anyone else but you. You should already know, Warren."

His brown eyes met mine as he lent his forehead against the side of my head and said into my ear, "I know. I just don't want anyone else looking at you that way."

I smiled and replied, "Even if someone did, you would scare them off before they'd even built up the courage to say something to me."

Warren looked around before kissing me on the cheek and sitting back against the tree. I laughed and shook my head before getting up to throw my food away. I understood why he was choosing to be sort of careful about others seeing him be affectionate with me. He was just a private person, and I was fine with that, because frankly I didn't want other people who didn't even know us commenting on our relationship as if they did. As I turned to walk back to Warren, I saw Chantal heading towards me, and turned to face her. "Hey Chantal, how've you been?"

I asked with a smile.

She returned the gesture and said, "I've been good Serena, thanks. So I have some news for you, that I think you might like."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Well, my grandmother's in town and I told her about you. She wants to meet you as soon as possible, if that's ok with you. Like, if you're not busy after school some time this week you could come over to my house and ask her about your problems."

A huge smile lit up my face, _'Finally, I can get some answers! This is amazing!'_ "That'd be great! What day should I go over?" I asked excitedly.

Chantal grinned, "Whatever day is good for you, just let me know ok?" I nodded and Chantal wrote her number down for me to call before she left with a smile and wave.

I walked back to Warren with a small smile on my face, he gave me a questioning look. "I talked to Chantal just now,' I said, "she said her grandmother's in town and since she knows a lot about shape-shifters, she might be able to tell me why my powers went away." Warren nodded and asked, "So if she can tell you what's wrong with your powers, can she tell you how to fix them? Or if you'll get them back at all?"

"I'm gonna ask her all those questions when I meet her, don't worry about it." I stayed quiet for a moment before adding, "I hope she can tell me." as an afterthought. Warren shrugged and said, "She might, no one rally knows about shape-shifters." I gave him a confused look and he replied,

"I mean, not much is known about their history. No one knows how they got their powers. I guess it's not as easy as explaining how someone who has elemental or psychic powers got theirs. They're very secretive, at least the ones who can shift into powerful animals. This is just what I've heard though, like I said, shape-shifters are pretty mysterious."

"How do you know all of this?"

"All of what? This is stuff that's commonly known. Haven't you ever looked this up, or asked around?"

I shook my head slowly, "No, I never thought about this stuff. I figured I just had the powers."

Warren was starting to get into this conversation, I could see by the look in his normally flat eyes as he said, "But how could you not think about it? Your powers came in late right?" he asked. When I nodded my head Warren continued, "And neither of your parents have powers, nor do any of you ancestors, correct?" Again, I nodded my head, I'd asked my parents and they'd said that no one in either of their families had powers. Warren went on, "So no one in your family history has had powers. We can't just say you're a "late bloomer" because again, no one related to you has super powers, so that's ruled out. It's got to be something to do with..with.. Well I don't know what, but maybe Chantal's grandmother will know. Shape-shifters' history is clouded in mystery. No one that's not a shifter knows about it. And I mean _no one that's not a powerful shifter. _I bet if you asked Magenta she wouldn't know anything either."

I sighed and leaned into the tree as I took everything Warren had said in, absorbing it. _'He has a lot of good points. Why didn't I ever think about how I got my powers? This is all so weird and a bit frightening at the same time.'_ I looked at Warren and sighed before saying, "I never ever thought of any of that. I guess because once I got them I was immediately put into training so I could control them. But, damn. Holy.." I trailed off, coming blank while trying to say what was on my mind. I was shocked, to say the least.

Warren poked the side of my head and said with a smirk, "See, I gotcha thinking didn't I?"

I rolled my eyes and stared ahead of me, keeping my mind blank. Warren went back to his book, and we stayed like that it was time to get to class. In Save the Citizen, Stronghold and Warren were called up to go against a boy that everyone called Blitz (only teachers knew his real name, but they called him by that nick-name too), who could punch so fast it was a blur. From what I heard, he could knock you out in mere seconds, just from hitting you so fast. Blitz's partner was Jessica.

The match started, and Jessica went for Will, knowing that her powers wouldn't have any affect on Warren. Blitz ran towards Warren, a fist pulled back, ready to punch him. Warren powered up, his forearms covered in fire. Just as Blitz reached him, he crossed his arms in front of his face.

I looked over at Will, who was flying towards the dummy while maneuvering as Jessica shot spears of ice at him. He almost got hit by one, he'd just avoided it at the last second and managed to get the dummy off the rope. The buzzer rang, Will and Warren had won the match. Once the buzzer rang and everyone started cheering, Warren powered down. Blitz looked like he wanted to try something, but Boomer was watching him like a hawk. So instead, he sent a royally pissed look to Warren and walked out of the arena to change. The gang and I went down the stands to congratulate the guys on winning along with the rest of the crowd.

When we got close enough, I saw Layla get yanked forward by Will and pulled into a big hug. Layla laughed and got red in the face, but hugged him back. Warren and I made eye contact, and I grinned at him, which he returned with one of his own, including a wink. Magenta noticed and rolled her eyes at me, but had a smile on. Warren left to go change, and motioned for me to walk with him to the boys' locker room door. We didn't say anything, but when we got to the door, he said, "Wait for me at my locker?" I nodded and went to change out my own gym clothes.

I was putting my Converse back on when more and more girls started going into the locker room to change. Layla came up to me and asked with a coy smile, "What was up with that wink Warren gave you?"

"You saw too?" I asked in dismay.

She shrugged and said, "No, Magenta told me."

"Speak of the devil." I muttered as Magenta came up to us, pulling on her socks.

"Hey guys," she said with a huff, "did you see Jessica's face when Warren winked at you, Serena?"

Layla and I both said, "What?" at the same time. _'Oh God, she's gonna be a major pain from now on, isn't she?'_

"Yeah, I can't believe you guys didn't see her face! She look beyond pissed. Like she was gonna murder the next person who talked to her. And," she lowered her voice so no one could hear through the chatter, "Jessica almost had a fit. According to Katie-who knows Jessica, her changing locker is next to mine-I heard her saying that the girl almost started freezing everyone in sight."

I sat back with a raise of my eyebrows and gave a low whistle, saying, "Wow, that girl needs to learn to control her temper."

My two friends nodded in agreement and Layla added, "And not be so jealous over a guy that isn't even interested in her."

"Oh yeah, most definitely."

I stood up to leave so I could meet Warren, but as I was walking past the rows of lockers, I was pushed into the wall. I didn't hit it too hard, but it annoyed me and I turned around to see who had done the deed. Of course, it was Jessica, the blonde-haired bitch. "Can I help you?" I asked in a bored tone as she glared at me. _'God, what is up with the stink eye she's giving me? It's like, permanently on her face. She's never gonna get a boyfriend with that face.' _

"I told you to stay away from Warren."

"Yeah, well I'm obviously not listening to your 'warning'. He's my friend and I can hang out with him whenever I want. Why the hell should I have to listen to you, just because you have your permanent stink eye on him?"I retorted, although I hadn't meant to say the stink eye part. Oopsies.

I swear, the air around Jessica turned cold as she started powering up. She was in a rage and if she didn't calm down the whole locker room could end up frozen.

Jessica took a breath and powered down. She put a smug look on her face as she looked over me and said, "Oh please. I don't even know why I see you as competition, you're easily one of the most unattractive girls at this school. With your hideous clothes, disgusting piercings andplain hair, I'm surprised he's friends with you. The only person at this school who could possibly be uglier than you is the purple-wearing freak. I mean, come on, the only thing she can shape-shift into is a guinea pig? It's pathetic."

I snapped and slapped Jessica across the face. Insulting me was one thing, but insulting my friend was a whole 'nother deal. She looked like someone had just well, slapped her face as she turned back to me.

"You're gonna regret that, you bitch." Jessica growled as she powered up again.

I backed away from her, towards the main area of the locker room, and hopped up on a bench, saying, "Oh yeah? Why don't you try and make me, cuz that felt really good and I wouldn't mind doing it again."

She shot a stream of ice at me and I dropped down onto the bench as it shot over my head. Jessica shot another beam of ice as I tried getting up, so I had to roll onto the locker room's floor to avoid it.I got up and ran at Jessica, then punched her in the face, hitting her eye. Even though I couldn't morph, I still had some of the things the other fliers had taught me in mind. She retaliated by grabbing me by the hair and slamming my face into a locker, making my nose bleed. My face screamed in pain as the force made me slightly dizzy. Another wave of pain washed over me as Jessica punched my face twice, hitting my cheek and my left eye with a fist that was encased in ice.I growled and grabbed her arm, twisting it viciously behind her back, then punched her mouth, giving her a nasty split lip, and kneed her in the stomach. All of a sudden, afemale teacher came in and yelled, "Enough!". Everyone in the room froze, and the teacher (who I later learned was Ms. Deegan, teacher of freshman classes), seethed, "Jessica, Serena, come with me."

I followed the woman out into the hallway, which was becoming filled with students who were leaving for the day. I saw Warren as we passed the area where his locker was. He didn't look mad or dissapointed, I noted. It looked like he was just worried about my injuries. I saw him glance over at Jessica, take in the bleeding mouth and handprint on her face, then he turned back to me and smirked, giving me a thumbs up as well. I managed a small smile before I lost sight of him. We were led to the office, where we were given tissues for our bleeding faces, then we got sent in to Principal Powers' own office.

Let me tell you, Powers did not look happy. She was furious, and looked at us coldly as we sat down on the other side of her desk. "Well, what do you two have to say for yourselves?" she asked in a brisk tone.

I spoke up first after a small moment of silence. "I know that I shouldn't have done it, Principal Powers, I fell for her bait and I really regret it." Because really, it was stupid of me to keep the fight going. I should have just slapped her and walked away. It would've saved me a black eye that I know I'd have for a few days. Powers nodded and turned to Jessica, asking what she had to say.

"She's the on that started it," Jessica said while pointing at me, "I didn't do anything to her, she just started saying rude things to me. I had no choice but to defend myself."

I rolled my eyes at her terrible lying. Principal Powers said, "Here's what we're going to do, ladies. One of you will sit outside while the other tells me their version of what happened in the locker room. Serena, you can tell me first. Jessica, go wait outside until you're called in."

Jessica left the office and I looked at Powers, wondering who she was gonna believe. She nodded to me so I began, "I was on my way out of the locker room when I was shoved into the wall. I'd turned to see it was Jessica, and she started insulting me. I was going to keep ignoring her and leave, but then she insulted my friend Magenta. So I sorta snapped and hit her across the face. Then Jessica started throwing beams of ice at me, and I went at her and punched her face. She grabbed my hair and slammed into a locker, then punched my face. So I grabbed Jessica's arm and twisted it, then punched her mouth and kneed her in the stomach."

Principal Powers raised her eyebrows and looked a bit impressed, before saying, "It's good that you wanted to defend your friend, but that was certainly not the way to do it. Go wait outside and send Jessica in."

I did as was told and stepped out, saying to Jessica, "The principal wants to see you now." She sneered at me as she passed by, but didn't try anything. I sat down in one of the chairs outside the office and leaned my head against the wall. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and pulled it out to see who had texted me. It was Warren, asking, _'What happened?'_

'_I got in a fight. Pretty sure I won :)'_

'_You shouldn't be proud of that, idiot. Now you're gonna get in trouble. What was the fight about anyway?'_

'_Jessica tried telling me again to stay away from you. Then she insulted me, but I didn't hit her until she made fun of Magenta. So it's not like we were fighting over you or anything.'_

'_Oh, well I guess that justifies it. But only a tiny bit. I'll text you later, gotta get to work.'_

'_Alright then, bye.'_

I put my phone in my pocket and waited for a few more minutes before being called back into the office. Powers motioned for me to take a seat again so I did, ignoring Jessica. "Well," began Principal Powers, "I've compared what you both told me, and I've decided to give you both three days of detention. Serena, even though you were sticking up for your friend, fighting isn't the best way to resolve things. Jessica, you could have walked away and not fought back. Plus, you used your powers outside the school gym. Your detentions will be served tomorrow and the day after. You may leave now. Oh, and your parents will be notified."

I nodded my head and walked out to the main office, and then the now-empty hallway. As I walked across the school's lawn, I thought, _'I'm gonna be in trouble when I get home. I really don't want to get grounded, not when I've already got detentions the next three days.'_

When I got home, Mom and Dad were waiting for me in the living room. "Hey, guys. Umm.. I expect you got the call from school then?"

My mom sighed and said, "Yes, we got a call from Principal Powers. Serena, you know you shouldn't be fighting at school. Why did you do it again?"

"She insulted me, then insulted my friend," I mumbled, "I couldn't let her do that."

Dad spoke up, "We understand that you wanted to defend your friend, but you know fighting isn't what you're supposed to do to stop it. You're lucky that this time you're going to a school for kids with powers, and not a normal school. Extremely lucky." He ended with a stern voice.

I nodded and said, "I am very sorry for what I did, and I told that to Principal Powers. I've got three days of detention to serve, starting tomorrow."

My parents nodded, thinking that was punishment enough, so I wasn't grounded. After dinner nd homework, I went upstairs and flopped onto my bed.

**A/N: I decided to just do this chapter in Serena's PoV. It took me soo long to finally get it done, and it's 10 pages long with just her PoV alone, so I thought maybe continuing in Warren's would take even longer. Reviews would be lovely :)**


	15. Teddy Bear

**A/N: Thank you lovelies for all your reviews and kind words! I'm sort of winging it with this chapter, so hopefully it won't turn out to be total garbage. And I'm sorry again for the long wait, finals are this week and I'm freaking out, along with saying goodbye to seniors and teachers.**

**P.S. I do not in any way or form own Sky High. But maaan, the things I would do if I did..**

**Chapter 15: Teddy Bear**

**...Warren's PoV...**

Tuesday morning came, and I rolled out of bed to get ready for school. I showered, and got dressed in my usual attire of black jeans, a tight black shirt, and my black leather jacket. October was just around the bend, and soon the weather would start getting colder bit by bit. Joy. Not that the cold bothered me, only when snow started falling did I finally begin to feel the affects of bitter weather. I just get extremely annoyed at the kids who complain about the cold _all the fucking time_. Shut the hell up and deal with it, for the love of God. I pulled on my boots and went to go to the bus stop.

Once the bus landed at school, I got out and headed inside the school, only to be stopped on the steps by a girl with black hair and brown eyes. She smiled at at me and said, "Hi, my name's Madison. It's nice to meet you." I just stared at her for second and walked around her into the building. I growled with annoyance as I heard her come after me and ask, "Wanna hang out sometime". I didn't even bother replying, just kept walking. _'Why? Why now? Why are all these girls choosing now to throw themselves at me? This is becoming damn unbearable..'_

She was still following me, trying to talk to me, until I finally snapped and turned to her, saying in a low voice, "I don't care to know you. Stay away from me. And tell your friends to do the same." I'd noticed girls staring at me as I had passed, and I'm not lying when I say it felt like they were undressing me with their eyes. This girl, Madi or whatever, tried to look cute while pouting. Didn't work. I turned around and walked on in peace. Will went up to me as I walked through the halls to my locker. "Hey man, what's up?" I said as he fell into step with me. He shrugged, "Not much is going on. Umm.. But I was wondering if you and Serena would like to come over after school today? Everyone else will be there too, we're just gonna hang out and chill, do homework."

I answered as I opened my locker, "Did Hippie put you up to this?"

He sheepishly nodded and said, "Layla feels like you should hang out with us more. Not that you don't enough already but.. You know how she is."

"Well, alright. I'll tell Serena. She'll probably swing by once she's out of detention."

Will nodded and said, "Cool, thanks man. I'll see you at lunch then."

I said bye and made my to class just as the warning bell rang. In first period, we picked up where we'd left off on the rise of villains. As my teacher (Mr. Armando) got to the subject of my father, I stiffened and clenched my jaw. He was going on about how my father had been good but turned bad, lured by greed and money and power. _'Lies. Lies. All a bunch of fucking lies.'_ I thought over and over again. It was obvious this man had his head deep up his own ass, and believed everything others said. He trailed off from history and started straight out bashing my father. I tried keeping my cool, staying calm, but it wasn't working. I noticed other students were looking at me, wondering if I'd react. Even Armando was looking at me, with a pompous look on his face.

Then he said the words that set me off. "Baron Battle was, and still is, famous for his robberies of high-security banks, arson on numerous buildings, and the murder of super heroes." He looked at me before continuing, "All I can is, I wouldn't be surprised if his son turned out the exact same way."

I fucking lost it. Flames shot up my arms as I sat in my desk, stock-still. Armando sneered at me and said, "Power down, you'll burn the desk." I just made the flames start going up to my shoulders. The desk under my arms was burning, but I didn't pay attention to it. "Power down now, boy! Now!" He screamed at me. The flames started going down to encase my chest. I sat there as Mr. Armando screamed at me to stop over and over again. The whole class was silent and staring at us, no one saying anything. "What you're teaching this class is nothing but lies that you believe to be true. You're supposed to teach us the facts, not your personal views. As for your last statement, know this. I will become my father. I'll be a superhero and stay one. But, what I do with my life is of no concern to you." Mr. Armando stared at me and slowly said, "To the principal's offi-" the bell rang and I got up with the rest of the class and walked out.

I walked to second period with a smirk and waited until Serena came into sight. She smiled and swung her hand so it touched mine and I felt a jolt of electricity. I returned the smile and said, "Good morning, ready to serve your first detention today?" She glared and pushed me playfully, muttering a "shut up" before going into the room. I followed her inside with an even bigger smirk on my face.

We passed by Jessica's table and she glared and Serena with her good eye, but I looked at her over Serena's shoulder and she stopped. I sat in the seat next to the window and was getting out my homework to turn in while casually asking, "Are you doing anything today after you're done with detention?" She turned her red eyes on me and shook her head no.

"Good," I said, "because Stronghold invited us over to his house after school. He said everyone's gonna be there and that Layla put him up to it because she thinks I need to socialize more."

Serena grinned and replied, "Sure, I don't mind going over if you don't. Do you mind waiting until after my detention to go over?"

"You mean you want me to wait here until you're done?"

"No, no," she shook her head, "I mean can you wait to go over to Will's until I'm out of school?"

"Oh, sure thing, I'll meet you near his house."

Again Serena shook her head no. I was starting to get confused by what she wanted so I asked her what was up. She looked uncomfortable saying it out loud, and I had to admit it was pretty cute watching her think about how to say whatever was on her mind. "Just spit it out?" I asked as I got out my notebook to take notes. "The bell's gonna ring soon, I recommend you say it before Medulla gets here."

She sighed and peeked up at me, asking quietly, "Do you wanna meet maybe a block or two from Stronghold's so we can walk together for a bit?"

I had to fight the urge to laugh out loud. _'That was all she wanted to ask? Why get so nervous about that?'_ I chuckled though, and that got me a glare from the girl that I'd grown to like immensely, "Is that what you looked so nervous about asking?" Serena just kept glaring at me and said, "Yes, as a matter of fact it is!" I shook my head and waited for the bell to finish ringing before saying, "Well, to answer your question, yes." We shared a smile and then I realized that I'd been scooting closer to her until our sides were pressed together. _'How did I not notice this happening?'_ I didn't mind it, and we sat in the back of the class so it wasn't like anyone would notice (not that there was anything _to_ notice).

As we sat in class, watching Medulla demonstrate a shield that would protect us from any type of element, I felt Serena press her side into mine. I returned the slight pressure, and cautiously swung my arm down around her hip. She didn't seem to mind, so I kept it there until she nudged me and whispered, "Class is ending." I glanced at the clock and saw the bell was going to ring in a few seconds, so I wrapped my fingers around her hip and squeezed, then withdrew it. A few seconds later the bell rang and we left to Undercover Strategies.

Twenty minutes into class, however, a slip came for me to go to Principal Power's office. I sighed and sank back into my chair a bit as Serena gave me a worried look. She opened her mouth, most likely to ask what was going on, but I shook my head and got up to leave. I got to the office and knocked on her door. She called for me to come in, and I stepped into her office and took a seat. I leaned back into the cushion as she sighed and said, "Warren, Mr. Armando told me about what happened during first hour today."

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did he tell you what he said before I powered up?"

"Yes he did, and I will personally make him apologize to you for saying that."

I shook my head and shrugged, "Apologizing isn't going to do anything. It won't fix what he said to me. He said it, and can't take it back. Nothing can be done."

Principal Powers nodded and sighed. Her eyes had a sad look in them as she looked at me and said, "I know that there's nothing I can do. But I want you to know that I am extremely sorry for what he said to you, and his teaching methods will be questioned. Personal views aren't to be shared in the classroom with students, where they can influence young minds."

I shrugged again and said, "I don't really care about whether or not you interrogate him or whatever, I don't care anymore. I think he got the point about sharing his own beliefs with the class. Oh, will I get in trouble for using my power in class Principal Powers?"

"Well, Warren. You did use your powers outside of the gym, you reacted illogically. But considering the reason you did, I don't think you'll be getting a detention for this. You can go back to class now." she finished with a smile.

I returned the smile and walked out of her office, then to class. _'These two days have been so..crazy. I can't wait to see what the rest of this week will be like. I'm really hoping nothing else will happen until the weekend.'_

The rest of class went by quickly, and it was lunch time. I decided to forgo lunch and just sat at my usual table with a new book to read. Soon everyone in our little group was at the table, and they were all talking while I blocked them out. I heard Layla mention my name and I glanced up at her. She looked at me expectantly but didn't say anything. "What?" I grunted in annoyance.

The three girls at the table shared a look and Layla said, "Are you going over to Will's house or not? We're waiting on your answer."

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, Hippie. I'm going to your little get-together. Calm yourself."

All the girls glared at me while Zach, Ethan, and Will laughed. Ethan said, "Warren, you need to learn how to talk to girls, being a smart alack doesn't help you get a girl." Will and Zach laughed harder at that, then Magenta and Layla joined in. I didn't say anything, just let them poke their fun at me. Serena raised an eyebrow and smiled at me.

When the bell rang, everyone went on to their classes and Serena and I went outside. We lazed around like everyone else, they were all trying to ignore the cold air, but I felt fine. I heard a chattering noise and noticed it was coming from Serena. I looked at her and she was covered in goose bumps, trying to hide the fact that she was that easily affected by a breeze. With a small sigh, I pulled her into my side, wrapping my arm tight around her and rubbing her arm to get it warm. She didn't say anything, but curled up next to me, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. I was enjoying it, until she murmured, "You're a giant warm teddy bear, Warren." _ '...what?'_ I gave Serena a 'You've gotta be kidding me' look, but she pretended not to notice.

**...Serena's PoV...**

6th had finished, and I walked down the hall to the detention room after saying bye to every one. Warren had given me a hug earlier and told me to let him know when I was done. Sitting in that white room alone was terrible (Powers had separated me and Jessica so we wouldn't fight), but at last I was able to leave. I called Warren and let him know I was done for the day, then flew to where we were supposed to meet.

When I landed on the street I was actually really nervous. The only time Warren and I had spent alone since the dance had been during our free period, but even then we weren't _really_ alone. I stood, leaning against the pole with the street's name on it, kicking around leaves and small rocks. I was staring at my shoes and the sidewalk, not really thinking about anything, when a pair of boots entered my field of vision. I looked up at Warren and gave him a small smile, feeling the butterflies in my stomach get even worse. I stretched up to wrap my arms around his neck as he leaned closer and hugged my waist. _'This is bliss.._' I thought as I breathed in his scent. _'I wonder..if he would want to kiss me again.'_

I pulled my head back but kept my body against his and he did the same. Looking into his intense dark brown eyes was making me nervous again, they were dark with something I didn't understand. _'Umm..I'm gonna take his staring as a yes.'_ I glanced down to his lips and back to meet his eyes again, and I could've sworn they'd gotten even darker with want. Warren pressed his forehead to mine for a brief moment before pressing his lips against mine. This time, I responded and slowly moved my lips against his. Warren held me tighter, keeping one hand around my waist as he moved his other hand to hold the back of my head, tilting it ever so slightly to deepen the kiss. His lips were soft and warm, pulling me out of reality and into dreamland. After a few seconds I remembered we were on a street, that people were bound to see us, so I slowly pulled away. He still had the same look in his eyes, but he saw me glance around to make sure no one had seen us, and understood. "We should get going, every one will be expecting us." I whispered.

Warren sighed in reluctance and murmured, "But I like where I am just fine."

"Well if we don't go then we're gonna look like we just flaked on them and don't care to hang out with them."

"I for one-" Warren stopped at the small glare I was giving him. "Alright, fine, let's go."

I smiled at him and gave him a quick peck on the lips before pulling away and picking up my backpack and putting it over my shoulders. I hadn't even taken one step when Warren pulled me back to him by my waist and breathed into my ear, "You're really gonna leave me with just a small peck? That's not very nice of you." I sighed, "Warren, we have to go now, later ok?" He smirked and pulled me into a deep, warm kiss that left me breathless and slightly dizzy. I blinked up at him and said, "Whoa..um..we-we should get going now.." Warren let go of me and began walking without a word, but I'd seen that insufferable smug look on his face. But I decided to let it go and followed after him. Once I caught up with him, I reached out and grabbed his hand, interlacing our fingers. Warren looked down and beamed at me, his whole face radiating warmth.

We got to Will's house in a few minutes and knocked on the front door. Mr. Stronghold opened the door with a huge grin, but stopped when he saw Warren. I glanced between them, noting Mr. Stronghold's look of what seemed like shock and awkwardness, and Warren's stoic blank look. I squeezed Warren's hand, and he blinked and said quickly, "Evening, Mr. Stronghold, we're here to.." he trailed off, not wanting to say it, so I cut in. "To hang out with Will and everyone else, sir." I said with a polite smile. Mr. Stronghold looked like he snapped out of whatever trance he was in, and said, "Of course! Come in, come in. Now, I don't believe we've met before young lady." I smiled a bit, "Serena Ange, I just started at Sky High this year, powers came in late and all." I said with a small shrug as we followed Mr. Stronghold into the house.

"Well it's nice to meet you Serena." he said with a smile. "I'll show you to the living room and then be out of your way."

I looked up at Warren, and his face was still in a stoic mask, not revealing anything. We followed him into a nice looking living room where everyone was lounging on the couches or sitting on the floor, doing homework and watching tv. Will's dad gave us a last smile before going off somewhere else. "Hey guys, what's up?" I asked as every one turned to look at us. They all smiled and invited us to find a seat.

Layla raised her brow as she noticed mine and Warren's hands, but I just shrugged and smiled. Soon we were all working on homework, talking and laughing. Warren was on the couch next to Will with Layla next to Stronghold, and I was on the floor between Warren's legs with my back to the couch. Magenta and Zach were sitting on the other couch, and Ethan was sitting across from me on the carpet. Magenta and I we talking about clothes, Ethan was listening and asking questions about why we wore certain clothes, it was pretty funny. Layla and Zach were doing homework, and Will was helping them. Warren occasionally threw in an answer to help them when none of the three knew what the answer was, but was for the most part, quiet and bored-looking. While we were all talking, I rested my head against Warren's knee, and again Layla noticed. She asked if I wanted to get a drink with her and Magenta, so I followed her into the kitchen, Magenta behind us. Once we were out of earshot of the boys, Layla immediately asked me, "Are you and Warren going out now or something?"

Her question took both Magenta and I off guard, she turned to look at me with surprise, while I shrugged and said, "You know, I don't really know if we are.. I mean, we hold hands and stuff, but not really in public.." I trailed off, growing quiet. Magenta asked with a very unlike-herself giggle, "Have you guys kissed?"

Both girls looked at me with big eyes as I said, "Yeah, once at the dance, and then earlier today."

Layla clapped her hands over her mouth so she wouldn't squeal, and Magenta just laughed. I looked at them both with confusion. _'What is up with these girls today..?'_

Magenta turned serious and said, "Maybe you should ask him about it..? Talk to him, see where you stand with each other. I mean, Zach and I are still getting to know each other, and if things work out we're gonna see where it goes."

I nodded and Layla agreed, putting in, "I really do think you should talk to him, maybe it'll clear things up with him."

"I haven't really thought about it much, whether or not Warren and I are like, official or anything. Sorta just taking it day by day. What if, when I talk to him, he gets freaked out or angry or something?"

"I guess..maybe just take that risk? You never know with Warren." Layla shrugged.

Magenta nodded in agreement, and I sighed in defeat. "I'll have to think this over, see how the next few days go."

**A/N: I was going to make this longer, but I feel like I've made you guys wait long enough. Thanks to Talis Ruadair, I've gotten back into the writing swing with tons and tons of ideas! Also, thank you to everyone who's contributed ideas or just reviewed, telling me how much you like this. I love all of you, and this story is gonna rock!**


	16. Powers

**A/N: Hi hi hiiii everyone! I've got loads of ideas in mind, they just keep coming to me, and being suggested by amazing reviewers as well. This took so long because I got stung by a bee in my right hand (near the top of my palm) so I couldn't really move my hand at all for 3 days. But now it's healed a bit and even though it hurts I'm still going on! Soo, here's the next one :) Enjoy!**

**P.S. I decided to sort of give this two titles because both Warren and Serena are both dealing with important things..so yeah.**

**Chapter 16: Powers/Dad**

**...Serena's PoV...**

Today was Friday, my detentions were over, and I had the weekend to look forward to. I felt like dressing up a bit today, so I put on my tightened blue pants, a gray V-neck shirt, and all black Converse shoes. I curled my hair a bit, just the ends and front pieces, then put on some mascara and a tiny bit of eyeliner. _'It doesn't look the same.'_ I thought as I took in my appearance in the bathroom. The eye make-up did make my eyes stand out and look prettier, but the color was still practically red. I'd been trying to put the loss of my powers out of my head for a while, but every time I looked in the mirror I felt more and more saddened. "I guess I'll just have to get used to this." I sighed to myself as I walked downstairs to breakfast. Zeus had been sort of avoiding me since I couldn't shape-shift anymore, he was cautious and wary around me, but today he came right up to me and started jumping up and down like he used to. I fed him and just sat, petting him for a bit, until my toast was ready and I could go.With my backpack on my shoulders, I flew off to school, barely flapping my wings because of the breeze and thermals that carried me up.

I passed through my first two classes in a daze, barely noticing people or what was going on. I was spacing out a lot, when usually I'm focused and on task. My mind was drifting again in Undercover Strategies, when Warren finally snapped me out of it. "Serena! Will you come back to reality already? Please?" he asked softly while shaking my shoulder. I blinked and shook my head a bit to clear it, asking, "What'd I miss?"

He smiled and said, "Nothing, I just think you're acting weird today. Are you okay?" I shook my head again and then nodded a yes to him. Warren looked at me suspiciously, but let it go. "I'll tell you about it at lunch, but to be honest, I don't even know what's going on with me today." I sighed. I spent the rest of the period trying and slightly succeeding in paying attention. As the bell rang for lunch to start, I was looking forward to getting food and relaxing. Warren and I were walking through the hallway along with the other students, when I noticed a girl glaring at me as I passed her. I didn't think anything of it, but then I noticed another person glaring. _'Uhh..did I do something?..oh. I know what this is about.'_

"It's because I'm with Warren." I said aloud to myself. Warren glanced down at the mention of his name and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"I just noticed why some girls have been glaring at me, and it's because I'm with you."

"Oh, they're just jealous. I'm glad when you're with me though, they stay away and don't try to talk to me."

I bit back a laugh as we went into the cafeteria. Warren went to sit at our table, while I got in line to get food. I paid for my tray of food, then went to join Warren and the others. As I got closer to the table, I saw that there were at least three girls sitting next to and across from Warren. I raised my brow and went up the table, asking, "Excuse me, but what are you all doing here?" One of them turned to me and stated, "Having lunch."

I looked at Warren, he seemed really annoyed and ready to tell the girls off. "Hey Serena, who are these girls?" I turned and saw Magenta, Layla, and Ethan coming towards me. "I guess they're friends of Warren's." I said as they stood next to me. The girls looked at each other nervously, but didn't say anything. Layla kindly asked, "Would you girls mind scooting over to make room?" I didn't hear if there was a response, because the girl who was practically attached to Warren's arm and I were having a glaring contest. Well, her face was really all scrunched up and trying to look intimidating while I was staring coldly at her. Oh, how I wished I had my fangs again, I could have easily scared them away.

With a shake of my head I turned to my friends and asked, "You guys just wanna go eat outside?" They nodded and as we turned to leave, I asked Warren, "Are you coming with us?" Warren jumped up and walked over to us. He smiled at me and whispered, "Thanks. I owe you." I just shrugged and we kept walking.

Outside, we all sat down on the steps and enjoyed our lunch. Soon Will and Zach joined us, and we had a good time, eating and talking. I saw Chantal coming over to us and figured she must have some news. "Hey everyone!" She greeted us with a wave and smile. Various greetings were given by everyone, except Warren of course. He glanced at her and went back to his book. "Serena, do you think you'd be able to come over to my house after school today? My grandma's leaving on Sunday and she wants to see you before she goes back home."

I nodded my head, "Sure, that sounds good. I'll just meet you right here after school, then?"

Chantal nodded and said, "Oh, don't be nervous or scared about all this, everything's alright, and will fall into place in time." before walking away.

The group looked at me nervously, and Zach piped up, "What's she mean by 'don't be nervous'?"

I shrugged but didn't say anything, because I had absolutely no idea what she meant by that. The bell rang and everyone went to their classes, leaving Warren and I sitting on the steps. I sighed and turned to Warren. "You wanna go for a walk?" I asked him. He nodded and we stood up, walking in a random direction. We ended up walking near the edge of the school, following the giant circular platform the school was on.

Nothing was said for a few minutes, until Warren asked me, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," I said quietly, "I'm just thinking about what Chantal's grandmother could possibly tell me."

"Well, whatever she tells you about your powers, if you're gonna get them back or not, I'll be here for you."

I looked up into his beautiful eyes and smiled, "Thanks, Warren. You know, I'm actually really nervous about this..and I'm scared."

Warren stopped walking and pulled me into a hug, saying, "I'll be here." I laid my head on his chest while reaching up to wrap my arms around his neck. I felt completely safe with him, like nothing bad could hurt me, I didn't want to let go. Warren pulled his head back to press his lips to my cheek, but I turned my head so our lips met instead. It was a soft, sweet kiss, and when we pulled apart we both had small smiles on our faces. All of a sudden, my conversation with Layla and Magenta from a few days ago came rushing back to me, making my smile falter a bit. He looked down at me in confusion, silently asking what was wrong.

I tried pulling away from him, but Warren kept his arms firmly around my waist. I looked down at the grass before flipping my gaze up to meet his. _'Might as well just get it over with, no matter how he reacts.'_ I quietly said, "I was wondering..um, well. I'm not really sure if we're going out, or together, official, what have you. And I was sort of wanting to ask you your opinion on..this." I finished with a gesture toward our bodies. If Warren was shocked or angered by my words, he didn't show it. He looked at me with the same confused expression as before, not saying anything. Warren let go of me and walked to the edge of the platform, running his hands through his hair. I followed him, reaching out to touch his shoulder, but left my hand hovering right above it.

"I don't know."

I blinked, sure that I'd heard wrong. "What do you mean..you don't know?"

Warren turned around, he had a troubled look on his face. He grabbed my hands and held them in his. "I mean what I said, but..I don't know how to explain it exactly. Of course, I like you a lot, you're really special to me. Being with you, just knowing you has made me happier than I have been in years. But something's holding me back, I don't know what it is."

'_It's not fair, he gets to look all..blank while I'm trying not to freak out.'_ Warren had his stoic mask in place, I had no clue as to how he felt while here I was, trying not turn into a blubbering idiot, or worse, push him off the edge of the school. "Asshole" I muttered under my breathin anger. I was sure Warren had heard me, but I didn't care. I glanced at him and he reached a hand out to cup my face, while looking me straight in the eye. Of course, I still had no idea what he was thinking or feeling, so I didn't do anything else but stare back. His hand slid from my cheek to the back of my neck as he came closer, I tried to pull away, but his hold was too strong.

"So..I'm taking your explanation as a 'No'," I nodded my head, "Alright. I think I can live with that. So we're just friends?"

Warren said, "Yeah, if that's alright with you. If you don't even want to be friends then I'll understand."

"Warren, please. Don't be ridiculous. Of course I'll still be your friend, no matter what, remember that."I managed a small smile, which he returned.

The bell rang, interrupting whatever Warren was going to say, so we made our way back to the front of the school and to class. In the locker room, I found Magenta and told her quietly, "I need to talk to you and Layla up on the bleachers, just us girls." She gave me a confused look but didn't say anything. When we walked up the bleachers' steps, I smiled a bit as we passed by the boys. Once we were seated away from the crowd, Layla asked me what was wrong. I admit I wasn't really hiding things very well, I could've done a better jobat hiding the fact that I was hurt by my conversation with Warren.

I took a second to collect my thoughts and started, "Well, I talked to Warren about what you guys brought up a few days ago. About our relationship. He said that something's holding him back, even though he likes me a lot. So we're just friends I guess."

Both girls had looks of shock on their faces, and Layla asked, "Did he tell you what it is that's stopping him?"

I shook my head no_._ Magenta said, "There must be something. But if he doesn't even know what it is, then maybe if you give him time, he'll figure it out and make up his mind about wanting to be with you or not."

Layla murmured an agreement. I just buried my head in my lap and took deep breaths. All of a sudden, I heard my name being shouted by Coach Boomer. "You've been called to team up with Will for Save the Citizen, go on Serena." Layla murmured with a gentle shake of my shoulder. I wearily got up and went to change into my armor. When I was back in the arena, I saw who we were up against, Eric and Ryan, the kids that I'd seen from my first few days at Sky High._ 'Funny, why didn't I ever ask Eric what his power was?' _

Turns out, Eric could create force fields. Will tried immobilizing him a few times, but nothing worked, he just kept bringing the force fields up like giant bubbles around himself, one after the other. Both of us were careful around Ryan, since he could manipulate our shadows. I was pretty much no use because if I flew, he'd easily be able to control me. They were a good team, working together to block whatever attack we tried to use against them. After 2 minutes of getting no where, I decided to at least use my wings to try and do some damage. My appendages were huge and dangerous, smacking whoever was in the way as I spread them as far as I could, tightening the tips so they would pretty much slice what got within reach. Will tried going after Ryan, and it worked, thank goodness, he soon had Ryan pinned down. I saw this as my chance to get the dummy. I flew up and over to the doll, but Eric conjured a force field around the dummy just as I reached for it, making me bounce off it, and slam into the plexiglass wall. I slid down and rubbed my head, making sure there weren't any injuries. The buzzer rang and the villains had won. We all shook hands in good spirit, then Will and I went to change into our gym clothes.

After school, everyone wished me luck as I waited for Chantal at the school's steps. She came up to me and we talked and laughed as we walked to the bus and sat down. Once we were on our way down to the city, Chantal asked me, "Are you nervous?"

I inclined my head and said with a small laugh, "Yeah, I just want to get this over with already, it's sort of been eating away at me all day."

She nodded in understanding and replied, "Well, my grandmother's very nice, even though she's almost too proud of shape-shifters and can be a bit overbearing sometimes. You'll like her."

We sat in comfortable silence the rest of the way down, exchanging a few words here and there about classes or homework. I took a deep breath as I stepped off the bus and followed Chantal down the street a bit, before stopping at a nice little house. She motioned for me to follow as she opened the front door and stepped inside. "Gran! I brought my friend Serena here today! She's the girl I told you about, who's powers went away." I followed her into the living room and we put our backpacks down next to the small table in front of her couch. "My parents are at work and my little brother's at a friend's house," she explained, "Oh, do you want anything to drink or eat?"

"Umm..some water would be nice, thanks." Chantal got up and left, coming back a few moments later with a glass in hand and her grandmother in tow. I stood up and smiled politely, saying, "Hello ma'am, my name's Serena Ange."

Chantal's grandmother smiled and said, "Good afternoon, dear. Just call me Rita. Now, I hear you have some questions for me about your powers?"

I nodded and took my seat again, taking a sip of water before beginning, "Yes, I do. Um, I don't really know where to start.."

"Start at the beginning, from when you got them to when you stopped shape-shifting."

Again, I nodded my head and began the story of how I'd discovered my powers, how I'd used them and when my size started shrinking until I wasn't able to shift anymore, and how I hadn't been able to for a few weeks. Rita nodded her head at some points, and when I finished she peered at me inquisitively. "Neither of your parents have powers?" She asked.

I told her that was the truth and she clapped her hands, saying, "Well, my dear girl. You have a lot to learn about shape-shifters. Have you ever wondered the reason as to why our powers and their origins are kept secret?"

"Yes, only once though. I've never given it much thought actually." I frowned a bit, remembering how it was Warren who'd make me wonder about these things.

Chantal's grandmother smiled and patted my knee across the table from the couch on the other side. "It's because we, and by 'we' I mean powerful shape-shifters, carry their spirits. They aren't super powers at all. They are entities that find a person who they believe will do good, and help the person. We are merely their carriers, but if a powerful entity chooses you, they will stay with you until your life ends, then move on to find another host they deem worthy."

I was beyond shocked, stunned, whatever word you want to use. But I quickly absorbed what she said, and slowly asked, "But if they're supposed to stay with your until your life ends, why did mine leave? And why do I have two inside me?"

"That, I can't explain. You'll know soon enough, though. One thing's for certain, they _will _come back to you, it just takes time." She said with a smile and continued, "That's all I can share with you for now, dear. Don't fret about this. Spirits have their own ways just as we have ours."

**...Warren's PoV...**

I got home from work at 8 p.m. and slumped onto my bed, grateful I didn't have any homework. At work I had slipped up a lot, zoning out and making mistakes with orders or accidentally spilling something. All because I couldn't get my mind off of Serena. I was pissed at myself for telling her no, and lying about why I couldn't be with her. In all honesty, I just didn't think I deserved to be so happy with her, while seeing my mother suffer so much without my father. Mom still loved Dad a lot, they wrote each other often, but I could see how lonely my mom was becoming without him here physically. It hurt me a lot because there was nothing I could do to ease either of them. I hadn't been able to help for 5 years, and it seemed like every year it was getting worse.

I went back downstairs once I remembered seeing some mail on the kitchen table. Going through the bills and advertisements, I was about to drop the stack until I saw a letter addressed to me from Dad, sent about 3 days ago. I didn't open it until I was back in my room and sitting on my bed.

_Warren,_

_I'm sorry it took me such a long time for me to reply, I've been given less free time during the day now. From your last letter it seems as if you haven't been liking Sky High, but I hope this has changed since I got that in August. Some of my best memories are from my time at that school. When Steve and I would pair up in Save the Citizen, we were unstoppable. How I finally got the nerve to ask your mother out on a date our senior year. I want you to look back on your time at that school with a smile on your face, no matter where you end up in the future._

_This includes, finding yourself a nice girl, or whatever gender you prefer. I don't care, as long as you're happy. And if you have already found someone special, don't let go of her/him. I understand that our being separated upsets you greatly because your mom isn't as happy (she's told me in her letters, and mentioned that you seem a bit happier than usual), but that doesn't mean you deserve to be unhappy as well. You're a kid, a teenager, have some fun with your life. Wallow in regret and in the past when you're an old man. Now, your mother recently sent me a picture of you, and all I can say is this: Get a haircut. Or at least tie it back. I don't want my only son being made fun of because of his hair. Or accidentally burning it off because it gets too long._

_I wish I could be back home with you two, I miss you both so much it hurts. You're all I think about each and every day, all I've thought about for the past 5 years. I want you to know that while I may not have done the greatest things as a villain, it was all for you and your mother. _

_Tell me how your training's going, have you found someone to help you with your powers? Because you know just working on pure physical strength isn't nearly enough, even if you have someone flying around or whatever as a moving target, it will help you. Keep meditating and controlling yourself, it's the best thing you can do so one day you don't incinerate a whole city just because you're ticked off. Trust me on that one._

_Again, I miss you extremely, having seen you grow up in pictures isn't the same. But, I have some good news. Because I've always behaved and never caused any trouble, I may be allowed to have visitors during the Christmas/New Year's holidays. I'd really love to see your faces again. Since we all have our own cells to ourselves, I've got pictures of you and your mom taped on the wall next to my bed. It's not the same, but it helps a bit. I have to stop writing now, but know that I'm always thinking of you, and will always love you. Always._

_ Dad_

I chuckled when I read about him wanting me to get a haircut, but I figured maybe if I got it shortened, just past my chin, it wouldn't look so bad. It'd definitely help at work._ 'Dad you've got to be kidding me, really..?' _What have Iever done or said that would make him think I wasn't into girls? I shook my head at that, but shrugged it off._ 'God, I really miss him. I need him with me, just like Mom does. Wait..' _I skimmed the letter again, quickly finding the spot where Dad said Mom had told him that I look happier. Of course I would look happier, because I made friends and met Serena.And of course Mom would have noticed that. _'Well, not really much I can do about letting Serena go. If this letter had arrived yesterday then maybe.'_

"I'm such an idiot." I breathed out to no one in particular as I moved to the end of my bed to take off my shoes and socks. Once I set them on the floor, I took off my jeans and shirt, climbing into bed in just my boxers. I stared up at the ceiling with my hands interlaced behind my head and wondered if I should try talking to Serena the next day.I know that I hurt her, but maybe, if she'll let me, I can fix things.

Mondayat school, things were definitely weird between Serena and I. Yeah, we'd agreed on just being friends, but it really fucking sucked. We hadn't talked all weekend, which was definitely weird for me_._ We didn't really talk like we used to, it was strained conversation_, _and just all-around awkward; by the time lunch came around I was happy to ignore everyone and just read. They were all eating while I had a few chips that I'd packed, when Zach asked, "Serena, what'd Chantal's grandma tell you 'bout your powers?"

I could feel her eyes on me in the small silence, and glanced up at her. She was hurt, but was trying no to let the others see it. And everyone was oblivious to it, of course except Layla and Magenta, the three of them were really close. Serena spoke quietly, saying, "I dunno if I'm supposed to tell you guys. It's like a giant secret in Chantal's grandmother's eyes. She doesn't want anyone to know about it."Everyone looked at her sort of surprised, but they all said something in understanding, even Zach, who'd been looking like he wanted to ask again until Magenta kicked him from under the table.

**A/N: I'm leaving it here because I'm sort of rushed at updating this. I hope you all like it. Reviews would be lovely!**


	17. Conversations

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and kind words you all have to say about this story! I'm trying to update as fast as I can, I honestly had _no idea_ this story was going to be 17 chapters, and I'm still working on more. I'm also trying to think of a good place to cut this story. So that I can possibly work on a sequel. It's not a completely sure thing yet, but who knows, it may just work out. I've never done a story this long before so hopefully you'll all stick with it. **

**Chapter 17: Conversations**

**...Warren's PoV...**

1 month. Serena and I still haven't been talking like we used to. Classes have been silent and awkward, the only time we seem to speak normally is when the gang is with us. We sit in silence during our free hour after lunch, one of us usually reading or she's off flying. Not talking to her has been making me go crazy, every time I see her I have to stop myself from doing something stupid; like kissing her senseless, or hugging her, or all of the above. Going into the last days of October and into the first days of November meant the holiday kids loved most of all, Halloween.

Wednesday morning, I walked off the school bus in a sour mood. I'd woken up late and barely made it to the bus stop in time. With a glare sent to anyone who got in my way, I walked through the halls to get to my locker. I grabbed the books I needed and then went to class, where I sat down in the back and pulled out my homework to pass in, along with my newest book, "The Black Dahlia", a fiction story based on the actual Black Dahlia murder that had happened in the 40's. But when class started I dropped it back into my backpack and paid attention. Since that day I'd powered up in class, Mr. Armando was being temporarily replaced by someone who'd once taught here, Mrs. Cheshir. She was an old lady, not really teaching us anything, she preferred to tell us stories about her years as a super before she retired.

Mad Science was quiet this morning, we were doing review for a test that would possibly be on Friday. I went through the review packet easily, filling in blank spaces, circling multiple choice answers, and writing out a few short paragraphs about the usefulness of having different types of rays. Sitting back, I saw everyone was working silently or sleeping, reading, whatever they could do without being loud and disruptive. I glanced at Serena and saw that she'd circled a few of the wrong answers to the multiple choice questions and was about to circle another wrong choice. "Wrong." I whispered to her quietly. She glanced up at me with confusion but didn't say anything and looked at her paper, trying to figure out the right answer. I silently watched as she went from looking confused to extremely frustrated. Serena took a deep breath and sighed, then turned to me and whispered, "Help?" With a nod I pointed out the right answers and explained the reasons behind them.

Next class had us going back to silence, but it wasn't as awkward. Lunch was as normal as it could be. In the weeks since Serena and I had stopped talking, she got even closer the gang. I was the only one who wasn't being treated the same. I completely understood, but that didn't mean it couldn't hurt like hell when I saw her laughing at something the guys did or said, knowing I wasn't part of what caused it. Sometimes, her new friend Ryan would sit with the group too, making everyone laugh. Those were the days I hated most, because I wasn't the one putting a smile on her face. Every day got worse and worse, until some days I would go to the library and sit by myself, so I wouldn't have to deal with being around her and being too scared to say anything to her.

When the lunch bell rang, I walked with the group out of the cafeteria and made my way to the library while they went to their classes so I could be alone and think about things. I was going down the hall when I felt someone tap my elbow. Glancing around, I saw Serena standing a bit behind me; I turned and said, "Hey."

She gave me a small smile and quietly said, " Hi. I just wanted to say thanks for helping me earlier in Mad Science. So..ah, yeah, thanks."

I stared down at her, not saying anything. I wanted to apologize and tell her why I couldn't be with her. I wanted to hug her and kiss her and take everything back, but I knew I wouldn't. I noticed that Serena was getting fidgety, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, biting her lip, and she kept glancing up at me. She timidly asked, "Are you gonna say anything?"

With a nod I said, "You're welcome." I looked into her reddish eyes, they looked scared and sad, but there was nothing I could do to help. I turned around and kept going to the library so I wouldn't do anything dumb. I didn't get too far when I stopped and put a hand to my chest. It felt strangely raw, I didn't know what it was, so I rubbed it and tried to try and shake off the uncomfortable feeling.

After school was over I went home feeling..not tired, happy, or sad. I just felt drained of everything. My mom was waiting in the living room when I got home, and she had a slightly worried look on her face, which instantly put me on edge. I slowly walked in, taking off my boots and dropping my backpack on the floor. "Is something wrong, Mom?" I asked cautiously as I sat down in an armchair. "I need to talk to you, Warren, and I think it's important. But I might be wrong."

I raised my eyebrow and nodded for her to continue. She went on, "I've been noticing that this past month you've been getting more and more quiet and isolated. I have no idea what to make of your attitude, just last month you actually looked happier. It's like you're having mood swings, and you know what can happen if these feelings get out of hand."

"Well," I started, shifting to get more comfortable in the chair, "something has been going on since school started."

"Oh? What is it?"

I shifted again, who knew talking to my mom about this was gonna be uncomfortable? "I..um. I met a ah, girl. Back when school started."

Mom's eyes widened as she stared at me in shock. "Oh Warren, you met a girl? I didn't even know you liked girls!"

I slumped in my chair gave her a look of disbelief as I said, "Mom! Have I ever shown an interest in guys? I swear, both you and Dad think I'm gay just because I've never had a girlfriend!"

She held her hands up in defense and answered, "Alright, alright Warren! It's just because you never showed an interest in girls either so I sort of assumed and told your father..."

"Oh my God.." I rubbed my face with my hands, "Mom, I'm straight as an arrow. And if I was interested in guys, I would've told you a long time ago."

"Ok, honey, I believe you. But why were you happy last month and now you're looking more and more sad each day?"

I mumbled, "Because we're not really talking..at all..anymore. But I still like her a lot. More than I've ever like anyone before."

Mom gave me a sad smile and asked, "What happened? Did you two get in a fight?"

I nodded my head and she came over to give me hug, saying. "Oh, Warren. What are you gong to do to get her back?"

'_What..?'_ I glanced up at my mom and said, "What are you talking about?"

She scoffed at my question and exclaimed, "Well you're going to get her back aren't you? You like her a lot and if she still likes you back then go get together with this girl, Warren."

"Umm.. I don't think it's that simple Mom."

"And why not?"

I shrugged and said, "Because we don't talk anymore. And when we do it's really awkward and I don't know what to say."

Mom crossed her arms and leaned on the armchair, with a thoughtful look on her face. A moment later her face brightened with a smile and she said, "Whenever you're alone with her next just tell her how you really feel."

"I don't think it's simple," I sighed, "bringing up the last conversation we had won't exactly be a walk in the park. You don't know Serena, she can get pretty catty when she wants to." **(A/N: Oh my..what a horrible line..I'm sorry everyone!)**

"Well, ease into it. Try talking to her little by little each day and make it less awkward."

"Mom, I think I may take your advice. Thank you."

She pulled me into another hug, then went to go make lunch. I sat in the armchair some more, drumming my fingers against the arm of it and trying to think of what I could possibly do to start talking to Serena again.

.**..Serena's PoV...**

I went home after school and laid on the couch with Zeus on my stomach, thinking about Warren. Every day I try to distract myself from him by concentrating on work and paying attention, or talking to everyone but him during lunch. I was a lot closer to the guys then I had been before, and I was just as good friends with Layla and Magenta as I was before. I knew why sometimes he went to the library during lunch and free period, and every time he walked past the cafeteria I wanted to grab his arm and pull him to me. But I didn't.

To say I was thankful for his help in Mad Science was an understatement, I was barely at an 82% in that class, no matter how hard I studied for the tests. If I didn't do good on this next test then I would ask Medulla if I could have extra help from him or a tutor. But the way Warren had explained everything as he helped me had me actually understanding things a bit. _'Maybe..no, never mind. Bad idea.'_ I stroked Zeus's back and scratched behind his ears while I replayed what happened in the hallway over and over again.

The way Warren had stared at me after I thanked him scared me a bit. His face held what looked like a mixture of pissed off, deliberating, and something else that I couldn't figure out. Warren hadn't said anything for a while and it made me nervous because I thought he was mad and would snap at me or something. But instead all he did was tell me I was welcome and leave.

I sighed and sat up a bit, waiting for Zeus to get off my stomach before fully getting into the position. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to think of other things besides Warren. Since we'd stopped talking and hanging out together, girls were now trying to get at him whenever they could. No matter how many times I saw a girl trying to chat him up (trust me, I'd seen_ a lot_), I always felt a fresh wave of jealousy wash over me. But, I always shook it off and went on my own way with a straight face. After all, it was his choice when I'd asked him if he wanted us to be together.

But not hanging out with Warren also meant some boys would come up and talk to me too, just not whenever Warren was around. Because even though we didn't hang out anymore, the boys that tried talking to me were still scared shit-less by him. Damon had asked me if I'd wanted to see a movie with him and I agreed to go with him, but only as friends. He's a really cool kid and a good friend, but that's all I see him as, a friend. Even Ryan asked if I wanted to get an ice cream with him before the weather had gotten too cold.

I went with him, and had a great time. He was hilarious, always cracking jokes and making witty comments that made me laugh until my sides hurt and we had a lot in common. Ryan had walked me home, but he told me himself that he felt like we would be better off as friends, which I didn't mind at all, because now I had someone else to hang out with and talk to. Every now and then he would join the group during lunch for a bit, before going back to sit with his other friends. But he was always making everyone laugh, and I noticed it was something Warren didn't like.

Dad coming home from work broke me away from my thoughts, as he called out "Hey, sweety. How was school?" on his way to the kitchen. I said loud enough for him to hear, "It was alright, nothing exciting happened, except a kid got badly burned today in Save th Citizen."

"Oh, how'd that happen?" my dad asked as he walked into the living room with a heated bowl of white rice.

"This boy, Warren, he's a pyrokinetic so he can control fire. Him and my friend Will were competing today and one of the kids they were up against got burned by Warren's fire ball."

Dad nodded as I explained, he was interested in super powers and all the different kinds there were, even though he didn't have any himself. That's why when I found out that I could shape-shit, he immediately found me a teacher to control my powers. Dad would watch me as I morphed back and forth, certain parts of my body, and learned how to walk on four paws.

We watched TV together for a while before I decided I should get to finishing my homework. I did most of it quickly, until I got to the Mad Science work. No matter how many times I looked over the questions and read sections from the textbook, I couldn't understand all of it. "This is hopeless.." I muttered to myself as I turned away from my desk and flopped onto my bed. "I'm never gonna understand this crap!" I wailed in annoyance as I buried my face into the pillow.

Mom popped her head into my room and asked, "Are alright, Serena? You were yelling about something."

I sat up and nodded, saying, "Yeah, Mom I'm fine. I'm just not understanding this Mad Science work at all, no matter how many times I read over my notes and the lesson in the book."

"Hmm, why don't you have someone tutor you? Didn't you say you have friends in that class?"

"Oh yeah!" my mood brightened as I looked for my phone, "I can ask Will if he understands this stuff."

After calling Will about 3 times, I decided to give on asking him for help. _'Who else could expl-oh God. Should I ask him..?'_ I bit my lip as I thought about asking Warren for help. How I could ask him if he didn't mind coming over to help me, or meeting somewhere else?

I figured the best I could do was suck it up ad ask Warren straight out. Otherwise I'd never finish this work and would completely fail the test. I found him in my contacts list and decided it'd be less awkward if I sent him a text.

'_Hi Warren.'_

I actually sat at my phone, waiting until he replied 5 minutes later.

'_Hey Serena..there a reason you're texting me?'_

'_Um, yeah there is. I was wondering..if you would wanna be my tutor in Mad Sceince. If it's not too much trouble and if you don't mind.'_

'_Well..alright. When do you wanna start?'_

'_Is right now good? You could come over and help me, I only have like 20 questions left.'_

'_Sure, I'll see if I can get a ride there.'_

I sighed and stretched out on my bed, closing my eyes and dozing off until my mom knocked on the door. "Yeah?" I called out sleepily as I turned over so my back was to the door."Warren's here, honey, downstairs." She poked her head in again, adding, "My, is he handsome Serena." I sighed, "Yeah mom, he sure is. Could you send him up please?" A few moments laterI heard the door open but didn't turn to see who it was. I knew it was Warren by the sound of heavy footsteps.

"So you need help with the Mad Science homework?" Warren said gruffly.

I braced myself and sat up with a nod. Of course, Warren still looked the same, he just didn't look at me the same, or treat me the same. But like I've been telling myself, it was his decision and I'm not gonna try do something stupid like force myself on him. He sat down on the edge of my bed while I got my books and paper from my desk and then laid them out. I looked at him and tried not to stare, so I pursed my lips and gathered the book to me.

Warren turned out to be a great help of course, and I understood most of the homework and chapter because he made me go over it with him. But it took forever, almost 3 hours. After a while of doing work, missed eye contact, and the occasional awkward silence, I'd grown fidgety and bored. Because I was restless, Warren grew irritated, so some insults were thrown, and then just like that we were laughing and smiling. As if everything was how it used to be, but underneath the smiles, joke, and teasing, there was still the hurt, and want.

But we were both stubborn people. Stubborn in the way we still felt about each other, and stubborn in our choices. I was stubborn in my choice to respect his decision of not being with me. He was stubborn in his way of thinking we couldn't be together, for whatever reason he had.

**A/N: I really hope you all liked this chapter :) Reviews would be wonderful.**


	18. Horrors Make Great Comedies

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews you guys! I'm gonna try to update a bit faster, so you don't have to wait as long. But no guarantees on it. Enjoy this chapter!**

**Chapter 18: Horrors Make Great Comedies**

**...Serena's PoV...**

Today's Friday, Halloween, and Will was planning on having the gang all go over to his house and stay up all night watching horror films, good and bad ones. My parents had agreed as long as I didn't do anything stupid, and I firmly told them that they had nothing to worry about. They felt a lot safer after learning that I'd be staying at the house of The Commander and Jetstream, so there was no trouble in getting their permission.

I went over to Will's house on my own, since we lived about 3 blocks away, it was easy for me to walk there with my overnight bag. I didn't feel very safe, even though there were little kids and parents everywhere. I felt..like something was going to pop out of the shadows and grab me at any moment. Call me crazy, that's just how I always am on Halloween. Once I passed by a woman with her children and turned onto Will's street, I immediately relaxed and felt safer.

Mrs. Stronghold let me in with a smile and made small talk, bringing me to the living room where everyone was lounging around. Zach and Will were playing video games until it got dark enough to start watching the films. Layla and Magenta had been bringing snacks in from the kitchen when I came in, we all plopped down on the couch to watch the boys and eat chips. Ethan was watching Zach and Will yell at each other, along with yelling at the TV. According to Zach, Warren was at work and would bring us dinner form the Paper Lantern on his way here once his shift was done.

After only about a half hour of playing, Will and Zach grew bored and decided to go sit outside so they could see everyone dressed up in their costumes. Magenta and I were grinning at the sight of little princesses, fairies, pirates, and super heroes running around. Layla was using her powers to play with the grass, trees, and various plants around Will's front yard. Soon Ethan and I started having a talk about which subject was more interesting, the history of super heroes or super villains. I was on the side of the villains, because it's interesting to see what happened that made them turn bad, or always be bad. Ethan was talking about how heroes' history was a lot more interesting because of how they got their powers. Neither of us was winning and it was on the verge of turning into a shouting match, albeit a friendly one. Magenta told us to shut up and just chill, so we settled on the fact that both are fun to learn about.

The sun was going down just as Warren pulled up, getting dropped off by his mom. Everyone went over to say hi, but I hung back and stayed in the yard until Layla turned and dragged me behind her. I groaned in protest but went anyways. They were all talking to Warren's mom when I stumbled up behind them. She looked at me through the open passenger door and smiled kindly. I had to say, she was really beautiful with the same skin color as Warren, hazel eyes, and dark drown hair. I shyly smiled and said, "Hi ma'am, it's nice to meet you. I'm Serena."

I saw something in the way she looked at me, but it was gone before I could see what it was. She glanced at Warren and turned to me with a smile, saying, "Nice to meet you too, Serena. Please, just call me Gabriella. Formalities are such a bore." I smiled in agreement and nodded my head. Everyone talked with her a bit more, then she had to leave to work at the hospital. As we all went back inside, Zach kept trying to take the bags of take-out from Warren until Magenta growled at him to stop it. Once inside, we piled our plates with chow mein, lo mein, mandarin chicken, beef and brocoli, steam rice, fried rice, and other magical goodness known as Chinese food. When everyone had their plates and drinks ready, Will proclaimed that we would start the marathon.

We started with a mini-marathon of the "Saw" movies, as Zach had brought over every copy there was on DVD. I wasn't a huge fan of those movie, even though I knew it was all fake blood and things. Zach and Will were paying an enormous amount of attention to every movie we watched, probably more attention then they paid in class. Magenta and Ethan were laughing at the films, saying they were more comedy than horror, while Layla and I were trying not to be too squeamish about it. And of course, Warren looked bored, but he was joking around with Ethan and Magenta so I knew he was enjoying himself.

After the last movie was finished, Magenta fished a movie out of her bag, called "Suicide Club". She explained that it was a Japanese movie about kids who start to commit suicide in huge numbers because of the hidden messages in a famous band's songs. The guys quickly got into the movie, their favorite part was the scene where a mother is listening to the band and cutting food up, then starts cutting off her fingers/hand like nothing's going on. I was sort of freaked out, but the story was pretty good. Layla looked like she was gonna throw up at the part where a bunch of school kids jumped off the school's roof and the cops found an ear on one of the window sills. Magenta had mentioned that she hadn't seen this movie in a while, and I'd looked over at her during a point in the movie. She looked like she was so scared that she couldn't look away from the screen.

I went to put my empty plate away in the kitchen, along with taking Ethan's and Will's; Warren followed along, taking his own plate to put away. I asked him, "How was your day?" as we walked to the kitchen but he didn't answer at all except for a small shrug. _'What the hell is his problem?'_ My temper quickly rose, and once we were in the kitchen I turned to Warren and quietly said, "I'd rather have a one-word answer from you than nothing at all, any day." He looked at me and pursed his lips, but didn't say anything, again.

Putting the plates in the sink, I turned to leave, muttering, "Never mind. Just forget it.". Warren put his hand on my shoulder and spun me around to face him. His face showed anger and sadness ad he said, "I'm sorry for everything that happened. For telling you we can't be together, and for being an idiot about all of this."

My gaze softened as I heard him say that. With a small sigh I quietly said, "They why can't we be together?"

"I still can't explain it. But..you know that I still like you a lot, right?" Warren watched me with a worried face. "I still care about you." He dropped his hand from my shoulder to my hand and grabbed it, intertwining our fingers. I gave him a small smile and nodded my head.

**...Warren's PoV...**

Thankfully our conversation hadn't lasted too long, so no one wondered what was going on. After finishing "Suicide Club", we rearranged the couches so there was enough room for all of us to sleep on the floor, then went back to watching movies. I was sitting with my back to the couch, which was against the wall, and Zach was on my right. Serena was curled up against the arm of the couch, playing with my hair. Next up was a horrible movie from the 80's or 90's called "The Gingerdead Man". It was about a criminal that had been executed and somehow came back to life as a gingerbread man and started killing everyone. The puppet they used was shiny and made of plastic, and you could see the strings they used for it. We all just made fun of it, along with the horrible acting and killing scenes.

Around 3 a.m., everyone was asleep, or getting there. Magenta was falling asleep on Layla, who had already passed out on Will's shoulder. Zach and Ethan were slumped together, sleeping quietly with the occasional snore or grunt from Zach. I craned my head back to see if Serena was still awake. She was dozing off, but wasn't completely asleep. I scooted away from the wall to my left and patted the space next me. Serena slowly blinked at me, then quietly slipped down onto the floor. I stretched out onto the floor and noticed that Serena was really tiny as she also stretched out next to me, in her tank top and sleep shorts. I rolled onto my side and pulled one of the many blankets over my chest, then pulled it even more so it covered her too. I smiled at her and whispered, "Goodnight." Serena whispered back, "Night, Warren..and..I still like you a lot too."

I wanted to reach and pull her to me, but hesitated. Serena must've noticed because she softly grasped my muscle shirt and scooted until she was close enough so I could lightly wrap an arm around her waist. I looked down at her and whispered, "I said we couldn't be together because I didn't think I deserved to be happy."

Serena looked confused, and I continued, "My parents..when my dad got sent to jail, I saw how it hurt my mom a lot. I guess I just figured that it would be selfish of me if I was happy with a girl when she was torn away from the man she loves."

She nodded her head and looked down. I put one finger under her chin so she had to make eye contact. I added, "But after having a talk with my parents, they both convinced me that I shouldn't let go of something that makes me happy. And well, you make me happy, Serena." I cleared my throat awkwardly, not used to being so open with anyone before.

"I'm glad they had a talk with you. You already know how I feel. But we'll finish talking about this in the morning or something, I'm tired. And you look pretty beat too." She whispered, a grin on her face.

I smiled back and sighed as she cuddled closer to me.

**A/N: Sorry this is so short, I was meaning to make it longer, but I haven't been able to go on the computer and work. Just typing Serena's PoV took a couple days. And of course, it's because people are over, so they use my laptop and I have no time to use it for myself. In all honesty, it's really pissing me off, but whatever. I'll keep trying to update until..whenever this is over I guess!**


	19. I'm Not A Fireplace

**A/N: Hi everybody, I hope you're all doing lovely and having a good summer! Keeping this short and simple, enjoy this chapter! :D**

**P.S. The movies mentioned in the last chapter, "Saw", "Suicide Club", and "The Gingerdead Man" are all real movies and I own NONE of them. That includes Sky High and it's characters.**

**Chapter 19: I'm Not A Fireplace**

**...Warren's PoV...**

November had flown by, but it left behind some snow. I didn't like it much, but everyone else seemed to _just loove_ snow. It's..pretty, but I don't like the fact that it makes my clothes soggy and clingy. And, snow meant I couldn't wear my leather jacket anymore because it's hard to get water out of leather and I'm not paying a stupid amount of money to take it the cleaners. So no leather jacket meant switching to zip-up jackets and black winter coats.

Here in Maxville, winter came in during early November and lasted until February or March. Pretty much sucked, especially since the high point was during December and January. But luckily, today was the last day of school before winter holidays. We'd all be free for the next two weeks to enjoy ourselves and the weather. Of course, I would be spending my holidays working and hanging out with the gang and Serena. During lunch a few days ago Zach said something about going on vacation for a week to visit family in California. Mostly everyone else was going to be staying here for the holidays, with only a day or two out of town. It was lunch time, and we were all hanging out, talking about plans and what we could do once school was over.

"I was talkin' to my cousin, and he said it snows everywhere where he lives. But you can drive to the coast in a few hours and it'll be as hot as it gets here in summer time." Zach told us as he bit into an apple. Ethan shook his head and said, "That's insane, one state having that many climates."

Serena spoke up, "But wouldn't it be so cool, to go from the mountains to the beach in the same day?" Will agreed and said. "I'll fly there one day, and take a nice long vacation. Oh! They have Disneyland in California! And California Adventure!" I raised my eyebrow at his excited jabbering and rolled my eyes. Magenta and Layla laughed at Will, but he didn't seem to pay them any mind as he went on.

Lunch ended a while later, Serena and I went to the library as everyone else went to class. The school's front lawn was covered in snow and there was currently more coming down, so sitting outside wasn't an option. Since today was our last day, teachers decided to be merciful and not give us homework or projects over the break, something we were all glad for. There were so many of us in the library that it was hard to find a quiet spot, but we managed to find a pair of comfy leather chairs near the back of the room. We had a whole hour free, but with nothing to do. Couldn't use our powers, and we didn't have homework. _'Ugh, God..this sucks. I just wanna go home already'_ I inwardly groaned as I slumped my head down on the small table that was in front of me. Serena looked up from some papers she was reading and raised her eyebrow at me. I turned so the side of my face was on the table and told her, "There's nothing to do. I don't even feel like reading right now."

Her lip twitched up at that, and she said, "Well..umm.." she trailed off before saying, "I can't think of anything dude."

I nodded towards her papers and asked, "What's that?"

"Stuff I printed out about shape-shifters, I found it online."

"Yeah? What's it say?" Serena had filled me in on what Chantal's grandmother had told her a few days after Halloween, so I knew that they would come back sooner or later.

"Not much, just common knowledge and different types.." she sighed and turned to me with a small frown. "When do you think the spirits are gonna come back?" I asked her quietly.

"No clue. The only thing I do know is that they'll come back for sure. But.. I want them to come back already."

I frowned and sat up as Serena stared down at the table, lost in her thoughts. I took her hand and intertwined our fingers, gently rubbing my thumb across her hand. Serena smiled at me, and squeezed my hand, thanking me silently. I returned the gesture and quickly placed a kiss to the back of her hand, making her smile grow bigger. "So, what are your plans for break?" she quietly asked while playing with our joined hands. I shrugged and answered, "My mom and I were given permission to visit my dad over the holidays. So we're gonna see him on Christmas Day, since they're only allowing one full day of visiting."

Serena nodded and asked, "Have you seen your dad at all since he was put into prison?"

I shook my head, "Nope, this will be the first time seeing him in..5 years. Did I ever tell you about the letter he wrote me back in September?"

She looked at me with confusion, so I went on, "He told me," I snorted as I remembered, "he told me that I should get a haircut. So I will, but my hair's just gonna be shortened to my chin. Nothing too drastic." I grinned at the shocked look on Serena's face. "Hmm, I suppose it wouldn't look too bad." she mused, tugging on one of my locks with a smile.

The bell rang about 20 minutes later, and I went into the boys' changing room with a smirk on my face. Just before the bell rang, I'd managed to take Serena by surprise by pulling my chair closer to hers and kissing her. She was slowly responding, when the bell rang, making her jump away with an embarrassed smile.

I thought over our situation as I changed into my gym clothes. It was sort of how it used to be, we talked and hung out, but I still hadn't asked her to be my girlfriend, and I was starting to worry myself about it. Because I didn't want the same thing to happen again. _'Maybe_ _asking her after the holidays. Yeah, that'll be good.'_ I thought as I pulled on my shoes. _'I could take Serena on a date over break and ask her then? Or after a second one?'_ I sighed and pushed the thoughts out of my head as I walked up the bleachers and sat down next to Will. He nudged me with his elbow and asked, "What's eatin' you Warren? You look all..brooding."

I snorted and turned to him, asking, "You really wanna know?"

Stronghold shrugged and smiled, "Sure, lay it on me."

"Well, I'm trying to think of a way to ask Serena out on a date."

Will shot me a slightly confused look, "Date? Ohh, you mean a _date_ date. Ok, I understand. Have you thought of a way yet?"

"Not yet, but I wanna do it sometime over break. That's about all I've thought of so far."

Will considered this for a moment before saying, "After Homecoming, things with Layla and I just went sort of..naturally. Maybe if you give it a bit more time the same will happen with you two?"

I shook my head, "That's what got us in that awkward mess in the first place. She was wondering what was between us and I didn't know what to tell her, I didn't know myself. So she got hurt and we didn't talk."

I scooted over as Zach and Ethan came up and sat down next to me. Will nudged me again and said, "And you don't want the same thing to happen again. So you kinda wanna take her out and ask her then?" I nodded my head in agreement and he went on, "Why not just ask her straight out? To go on a date, I mean. Then ask her the other question after that's over." I thought about what he said; it sounded simple and to the point, so I guessed it couldn't hurt. Looking over at him I said, "Thanks, Will. I'm gonna owe you one if this works out." He grinned and shrugged, saying, "It's no problem really. Just look at this as my way of repaying the favor."

"What favor are you talking about?"

Will rolled his eyes and said, "You were the one that told me Layla liked me, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"Pfft, you would. So yeah, no one owes anything anymore, clear?" He held out his hand and I took it, shaking it and replying, "Deal."

**...(A few days later)...**

We were all hanging out at Stronghold's house, it was sort of the unofficial place where we all gathered when we got together. I don't think Will's parents minded, they seemed to like a house full of people. I was trying to beat Zach in Nazi Zombies, but wasn't doing so well, due to my lack of experience with this game. Will was cuddling with Layla on the couch, and Magenta would look over at them and pretend to throw up, causing Serena and Ethan to laugh. I cursed loudly when I lost, making everyone howl with laughter, much to my chagrin. I tossed the controller to the floor and muttered, "That game was stupid anyways." as I got up and walked to the other couch and sat down next to Serena, swinging an arm around the back of the couch while she leaned against my side. Magenta began making retching noises again, but I ignored her, although this time Wil and Layla laughed with her. I glared at them, but it didn't do any good so I went to watching Zach beat Ethan at the game. "Aw, you've gotta be kidding me. Even Ethan is better at this than me?" I said loudly, watching as he caught up in points with Zach, who called back to me, "No one likes a sore loser, Warren!" I glared at the back of his head, but didn't say anything.

About an hour later we were outside in Will's backyard, having a snowball fight. Well, I couldn't really participate, the minute I set foot on the ground the snow steamed and melted. So I sat in one of the chairs on the back porch and watched as they all built defensive walls of snow and hurled them at each other. Zach threw one at Layla, but missed and smacked Will in the side of the head instead, making him turn around in surprise, to get hit in the face by another snowball thrown by Magenta. I laughed out loud at the look on his face as he wiped away the snow. Serena and Ethan had made a pile of snowballs, throwing one after another at the two other teams in rapid succession. After a while everyone decided to call a truce, it looked like they were feeling the cold from all the snow that hit them. I couldn't feel it, but everyone else was shivering and trying to warm up their hands by blowing on them. Magenta called to me, "Hey Warren, can we sit around you so your heat will warm us up?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "I'm not a fireplace, Magenta." She grinned while everyone else laughed at her failed attempt as we all headed back inside. Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold had just come back from a mission as we were stamping the snow out of our shoes. Mrs. Stronghold greeted us all with warm smiles and offered to make hot chocolate for everyone, while Mr. Stronghold smiled and said hello to everyone, but faltered when his eyes met mine. I gave him a polite smile and said, "Hello Commander." He recovered and replied, "Warren, how are you and your mother doing?" I stiffened for a moment, and everyone looked at me expectantly. Then I relaxed and answered, "We're doing well, thanks." Mr. Stronghold nodded and smiled again before saying he was going to change out of his uniform and leaving the kitchen.

There was a tense silence in the kitchen within the next couple of minutes as everyone kept glancing at me while I accepted a mug of hot chocolate from Mrs. Stronghold. I tried to ignore them and concentrate on my drink, but after I took just one sip I looked around and growled, "What are you all looking at?" Everyone hurriedly put their heads down, drinking out of their own mugs carefully. Mrs. Stronghold gave me kind smile and said, "I'm sorry for the way Steve sprung that question on you, Warren. I'm sure he didn't mean to be so sudden with it." I blinked at her and slowly said, "It's ok, Mrs. Stronghold. It sort of just threw me off, not many people ask about my mother."

She nodded and replied, "Alright. I think," she leaned forward and spoke quietly, "the reason he always gets thrown off when he sees you is because you look so much like your father. I think it hurts for him, seeing you, the spitting image of his old friend. Oh, and please, just call me Josie." I didn't know what to say so I just stared down into my drink, but she understood and patted my back before leaving the kitchen.

**A/N: I'm sorry this is so short, but I decided to only do this one from Warren's PoV. Bu**u**t I've got some things planned for the next chapter, so you'll just have to wait and see!**


	20. Visiting

**A/N : Thank you soo much for all your reviews everybody! I really hope you all aren't getting bored with this. This chapter may or may not be all from Warren's perspective.**

**Chapter 20: Visiting**

**...Warren's PoV...**

Christmas morning, I woke up with a grim smile. Mom and I would be visiting Dad today, a car would be coming to pick us up and take us to wherever it was they were holding him. I took a shower and dressed in jeans, a black V-neck shirt, and a coat. My hair had been a cut a few days ago, so it was a bit shorter than I was used to. I went downstairs and had a bit of coffee while Mom was still getting ready. While I added a bit of sugar and creamer I wondered how today would go. I'd be seeing my dad for the first time in years, and I had no idea what would happen. _'Fuck, I don't even know what to say. What do you say to you father when he's been in prison for most of your teenage life?'_ I frowned and continued to mull over that question as Mom came into the kitchen, looking both excited and on the verge of tears. I had no idea what was going on her head as she scurried around, making sure she had everything in her purse. We didn't say anything as she fixed herself coffee, I didn't know what to say and Mom was too nervous to speak. _'I think she's afraid she'll start crying if she talks..'_ One look at her face made me realize that my assumption was correct. I sighed to myself and walked over to Mom, just stood next to her so our shoulders were touching. I heard her murmur "Thank you, Warren." as she briefly leaned her head on my shoulder. I just sipped at the last of my coffee and then put the empty mug in the sink, stopping when I heard a car pull up the driveway. Mom turned to me and nearly whispered, "That must be the escort to take us. Let's go."

The car ride was quiet. Mom was too tense to say anything, the driver wasn't much of a conversation type, and I was in some sort of trance, trying to tell myself that this was actually gonna happen. To distract myself from the suffocating silence, I lifted my head from the back of the seat and turned towards the window so I could stare out into the passing landscape. But just my luck, the windows were tinted so darkly you couldn't see a thing out of them. I sighed and leaned towards driver, asking, "Why are the windows so dark?" The driver kept his eyes on the road, which I could barely see out the front windshield, and said, "Where we're going is a top-secret facility, not even family can know where it is. Oh, and just as a head's up, the prison has a force field around it that neutralizes all powers. So you'll feel weaker once we pass through it."

After God-knows-how-long, we slowed down, but still kept going forward. My guess was that we were nearing the force field. All of a sudden, this weird feeling came over me. It was like I was floating, I was dizzy and coudn't think straight. While clutching my head I looked round at Mom and saw she was also holding her head in her hands. She sent me a weak smile that I returned before I turned back to staring at the seat in front of me. The driver turned around to us and said, "You can get out once we stop." before he started driving forward again. After what felt like a few turns, the car finally came to a complete halt. I got out of the car and looked around. Well, tried to look around, everything was hazy and blurry. But it looked like we were surrounded by trees. on all sides except one. In front of me was a huge, white prison.

'_Maybe this is where Powers got the idea to have the detention room white.'_ I thought as Mom and I walked in, looking around while Mom got our visitor's passes. We were escorted down a hallway by a security guard, when suddenly feelings of anxiety, nervousness, and excitement hit me all at once like a brick wall. I started taking deep breaths as we were patted down and searched by security, before being allowed into the visitation room. Mom looked like she had calmed down since we had gotten picked up, and was now more excited than nervous. We sat in silence and I looked around the room, it was grey for the most part. The floor was grey cement, the benches and tables were grey, but the walls were a dull off-white color. There was a guard stationed at the door on the other side of the room, he didn't look very nice.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, there was a knock on the door. My body immediately tensed up, and I snapped my head up to watch the door as it opened. _'I'm not ready for this, I'm not ready to see him..'_ was going through my mind as I first saw a foot step into the room, followed by the other. I watched with bated breath until my father was in the doorway. A glance at Mom told my that she was frozen stiff, staring at him. Slowly, I stood up and walked over to him. Standing in front of him, I realized we were now the same height; but he was thinner, not as built as he had been all those years ago. Next thing I knew, we were hugging and nearly sobbing. All the years of being fatherless, not having anyone to talk to about my problems, being jealous of other kids with both parents-before I'd controlled my emotions-came back and I held Dad even tighter, clinging to his prisoners' stayed like that for a long moment before Dad pulled back and grasped my shoulders, saying, "I've missed you Warren. Look at you," he gestured to me with a smile, "You've grown so much. I just wish I could've been there to see it happen."

I smiled a bit too, and replied, "It's ok, Dad. I've missed you too..a lot."

"You look so much like me.." Dad trailed off, cupping my right cheek with a strong hand. "It's unbelievable."

"I think that's why the Commander is always quiet whenever we see each other when I go over. I'm good friends with his son, you know." I murmured quietly.

Dad gave a small smile, but had a pained look in his eye. "Steve..my old friend. How is he? And Josie? They're doing well?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah, they're doing great. Still saving the world."

"Good..that's good. Tell him that I'm proud of him and his work. And that I can't thank him enough for what he did." I nodded and stepped out of my dad's grip, motioning him towards Mom. I watched with a smile as my parents embraced and kissed each other. They both turned to me and held their arms out, motioning for me to join them. With a huge grin, I wrapped my arms around both of my parents for the first time in years. Being held by Mom on one side and Dad on the other, it made me feel so..complete, happy, and at ease. I was so happy I thought my heart would burst form the emotion.

**...A few hours later...**

"So Warren, how's school been for you so far? I feel like I'll get more out of you in person than I ever would in your letters combined." Dad asked with a small chuckle as we all sat on one of the benches. Mom was next to Dad, their hands were joined, with Dad's arm around Mom's shoulder, and Mom looked happier than I'd seen her in years. I was sitting across from them, my elbows resting on the table behind me.

"It was hard in the beginning, because once I got to Sky High, everyone knew who I was and stayed away from me, or talked about me. But I ignored it all and just did my work."

Dad asked, "So you never got into any trouble? That's good of you."

Mom spoke up, "Not true, Baron. His sophomore year her nearly melted three lockers, and earlier this year Warren nearly burned the cafeteria down. He was lucky he didn't hit anyone."

I rolled my eyes and said, "That kid sophomore year was asking for it. He'd been following me for weeks, hounding me and saying nasty comments about our family. And as for this year, I don't really think it matters now since I'm friends with Will." Dad started to grin at that, but stopped when Mom gave him a look.

Mom then decided to change the subject. I should've anticipated what she was going to say by the smirk she had on her face. But before I could stop her, Mom asked, "Did Warren ever tell you about the girl he likes, dear?" I groaned and dropped my head into my hands while Dad said, "No, I don't think he did. What's this about a girl, Warren?" Dad nudged me with his foot and I picked up my head to look at him. He raised a dark brow at me, then grinned and asked again, "What's this I'm hearing about a girl?" With a sigh I said, "I met this girl at school, she's in my grade. But she was new because she'd just gotten her powers. We-"

Dad interrupted with, "What super power does she have?"

"She can fly-with giant wings-and shape-shift. Can I finish my story?"

"Oh, sorry Warren. Continue."

I grinned and told him the story of how we'd met and became friends, the Homecoming dance, and what's happened since then. Dad listened in silence and then asked, "What's she look like?" with a teasing smile. I ran a hand through my hair and sheepishly grinned. "Well..Serena's kind of short, but not too short. She has long brown hair, tan skin, and yellow/gold eyes." Mom looked confused and said, "But when we met on Halloween, her eyes were a red-brown color."

Dad asked, "What's up with her eyes?"

With a sigh, I told them, "She lost her shape-shifting powers a few months ago. When she had them, her eyes were yellow/gold. But now, they're a weird red color." Mom and Dad nodded in understanding. Sensing what they were going to ask next, I said, "I don't know if she's gonna get them back or not." Again, both my parents nodded in understanding. We sat in silence for a few moments, before Mom said, "Warren, if you let me, you can go through your mind and find an image of her, and I can show it to your father." I gave her a confused look and she explained, "My power's only partially telekinetic. So the force field didn't completely neutralize my power."

'_Hmm. Seems harmless enough, I don't think Mom will do anything to hurt me..'_ I nodded my head towards Mom and she smiled in thanks. I searched through my memories for an image of Serena_,_ and then told Mom I was ready. There was still some pain when Mom went into my mind, but not as much because I let my guard down and was expecting it. Soon there was a figure that was the spitting image of Serena standing next to me, facing Mom and Dad.I grinned sheepishly as Dad looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Well son, she's very pretty. When can we be expecting grandkids?" Him and Mom laughed as I stared at him, horrified. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. No kids until you're married." They laughed harder when I groaned and dropped my head into my hands._ 'Should've known he'd say something like that.' _

About 2 hours later, it was time for Mom and I to leave. With sighs of reluctance, we all stood up and went to the door where Dad would be taken back. Mom wanted her turn first this time, so I grinned and stepped back. When they finally separated, I walked into Dad's waiting arms and held him as tight as I could. "I'm gonna miss you Dad." "I'll miss you too, Warren. Take care of your mother, and remember that I'll always love you two no matter how far apart we are." I nodded into his shoulder, too overcome to say anything in return.Finally, we pulled apart and Dad was led out of the room. Mom and I turned to walk out of the room and began the long drive home.

**...2 days later...**

I had called Serena the day after visiting Dad, and she'd agreed to come and meet me at a small cafe in town. I grinned as I looked up and saw her enter the small building. She scanned the room with a scared look on her face until our eye met. If possible, my grin widened even more, and she smiled in return. I was mesmerized as Serena walked over to join me at the small table I was sitting at, she looked so beautiful, with her face flushed from the cold outside. Her head was covered by a beanie and her small frame by a giant coat. She beamed at me while taking a seat across from my own chair. "Hey," she greeted me with a warm smile, "How was your Christmas?"

We talked about how our holiday break had went so far, I told her about visiting Dad on Christmas-leaving out the part where we talked about her, of course. She told me about her Christmas Eve and Day being spent visiting with cousins and aunts and uncles from both sides of her parents' families. Serena told me funny stories about her cousins, all the trouble they'd gotten into as kids; but it was nothing compared to when one of the older cousins had thought jumping off the roof into a trampoline was a good idea.

Our drinks had been finished for a while now, so I suggested we leave before being asked by an employee. As we walked through the streets with no destination in particular, I wrapped an arm around Serena's shoulder, but hadn't realized I'd done it until she'd given me a look of surprisebefore leaning into my side. We walked on in silence for the most part, until we reached her street. I had to get back home in time before my shift at the Paper Lantern started. I walked Serena to her house and up to the front door, where we hugged. As I pulled away I asked, "I don't really know how to ask this, so I'm just gonna come out with it. Would you wanna go out with me? Like on a date?" Serena stepped back as if to consider, and for a minute I was afraid she would say no. But all of a sudden she asked in a hurt voice, "You mean this wasn't one?" _'Oh..sit.'_ I was at a loss for words, I started scrambling to find some explanation when Serena laughed and said, "I was kidding. And yes, I'd very much love to go on a date with you."

I sighed in relief and grinned widely as her words registered in my brain. Serena let out a small laugh again and rose on her tip-toes to kiss my cheek. I smiled down at her as she softly said, "Bye Warren." before going inside.

**A/N: I'm so so so sorry this update took so long! I hope you all don't that, again, it's all in Warren's PoV. Reviews would be lovely! And I hope you're all enjoying the last of your summer holidays! Until next time :)**


	21. Author's Note

**A/N: Just a head's up to all of you wonderful readers, I won't be able to post as often. School's started again and since I'm in my senior year, there is a lot I have to do to make sure I graduate. I am working on the next chapter, and have been for the past few weeks, but now it's going to be a lot harder to find time to work on it. I'll do my best though, and I love each and every one of you!**


	22. The Date

**A/N: First off: I'd like to give a big fat THANK YOU to all of you for being so understanding about my updating slowness. It really means soo much to me that you're willing to wait and won't drop me (or my story) like a hot potato. I'm trying to make up for lost time since it took me forever to put up the last chapter, and I hope everyone likes this chapter, Warren is finally taking Serena on a date! But will all go as planned? Or will something (or some_one_) ruin it? Read on to find out!**

**P.S. Starting soon (whenever I feel the situation calls for it), the chapters will be changing from Serena's or Warren's PoV, to a 3rd Person PoV. I've been doing a lot of thinking, and while I love doing 1st Person, I feel it might make future chapters difficult to write. Hope you don't get thrown off by the sudden change!**

**P.S.S. Just for the heck of it, I'm gonna say that Maxville is somewhere near some big city. One that snows, of course..any suggestions?**

**Chapter 21: The Date**

**..Serena's PoV...**

'_Warren asked me on a date! A date!'_ I smiled as I watched t.v. with Zeus on the couch a few hours after we said goodbye. But I wasn't even paying attention to what was on, my mind was filled with thoughts of Warren. My eyes widened as I realized something and ran upstairs to where my phone was. _'I have to tell Layla and Magenta!'_ After first calling my mom to make sure it was alright, I quickly grabbed my phone and called both of them and told them to come over. Then I went back downstairs and made some food for when Magenta and Layla got here. Pretty soon Dad got home, and told me to clean up before the girls arrived. Mom had called and filled him in on what was going on. For the next half hour I hastily cleaned the living room, not that there was much of a mess, and then went to clean the kitchen. With a sigh, I finished putting away the last of the dishes._ 'The only reason Dad made me clean was because he knew that people were coming over.. Good thing I never told them about the time Warren came over, they would've been pissed at the thought of a boy here without them knowing.' _

"So, what happened!" Layla nearly screamed at me once I opened the door to let her in. "Nice to see you too, Layla." I replied. "Come on in, Mag is already here. And by the way, she said the exact same thing when she got here." Layla just laughed at that and followed me inside to the living room. Once we were all seated I told the girls how Warren had asked me out and they listened with bright eyes and huge grins. "I mean, it's not the most romantic way of asking, but it's Warren. He doesn't look like the romantic type." Magenta observed when I'd finished telling them. Layla agreed and added, "Yeah, I wonder what your date will be like."

I shrugged in response and Mag asked, "Has he told you where he's gonna take you?"

"Mmm, no, he said that it was a surprise, but nothing fancy."

Layla raised a brow and murmured, "I wonder what that could mean.." suddenly she gasped and said with a smile, "What if you guys go on a moonlit walk through the snow? Or go ice skating down at that huge park near downtown?"

"As nice as that'd be, I don't think Warren would feel comfortable doing that. It's all romantic, winter-time stuff."

Magenta said, "What sort of thing could you see yourself and Warren doing on a date?"

"Umm.." I trailed off, thinking about her question, "I don't really know to be honest. What if he surprised us all by doing something romantic?"

Layla snorted, "I think someone would have to threaten him with certain death, but you never know. He did wear a tux to Homecoming when he said that he wasn't going to."

**...Later that night...**

I had just gotten out of the shower and walked into my room when my phone rang. I picked it up and saw Warren was calling. With a grin I answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Serena, what's up?"

I stayed silent for a moment, then replied, "Getting ready, you?"

"I just got off of work not too long ago. I was wondering, when are you free to go on our date? I kind of forgot to ask you that earlier..." Warren trailed off.

"Um, any day, really. There's nothing I have to do over the next few days, so whenever you want is fine with me."

We talked a bit more, and settled on Saturday, the day before New Year's Eve. I tried getting Warren to tell me what we were going to do, but he wouldn't budge. He only told me to dress casually, and that was all I knew besides the day and time.

**...Saturday...**

I was in panic mode. I had no idea what to wear. _'How the hell are you supposed to dress casually for a date?'_ My mind was screaming over and over again as I went through my closet and drawers. I pulled out dozens of pants, shorts(as if these were even an option, it's winter), blouses, tee shirts, V-necks, and everything else I owned. Finally, I gave up and called out to Mom. "Moooom! I need help!" I yelled as loud as I could. A few moments later Mom came in and said, "What did you do to your room?" with an angry look on her face. I said, "I'll clean it up later tonight, but right now I need help finding something to wear for my date with Warren."

Mom said, "But you have a lot of cute things you can wear, it shouldn't be that hard."

"But it is! He said to dress casually. How do you dress casually but still cute for a date?"

I watched as she thought and started looking through my clothes, before she held up a light blue blouse that tied at the waist, saying, "Why not wear this? It looks really lovely on you."

A few minutes later, I was ready. Wearing the top Mom chose, dark blue skinny jeans, black snow boots, and a black coat, I went downstairs and waited. Dad was reading the paper, when he looked over at me from the top of it and said, "I don't think I have to warn you about anything, honey. You're old enough to know about all this..stuff." He waved his hand for emphasis. I nodded and replied, 'Uh, yeah Dad. I had this talk with Mom a long time ago..I think I'm good."

Dad nodded and stood up as the doorbell rang, "Good. Now I hope this boy has been told the same thing."

I cringed at that, and straightened out as Dad went to answer the door. A moment later he and Warren walked into the living room. I got butterflies as soon as I saw Warren, and as our eyes met we shared a smile. For a minute I forgot to breathe and I felt slightly light-headed, he looked so handsome, and he was just standing in my living room. There was a small awkward silence, then Dad said, "Well Serena, you know what I told you earlier, keep it in mind. Have fun!". I gave Dad a grin and said, "Sure thing, Dad. Goodnight!"

Warren shook my dad's hand and politely said, "It was nice meeting you sir, and you've got nothing to worry about, I'll keep Serena safe. The worst possible situation would be for me to have to use my powers, and I doubt that's going to happen." Dad nodded and returned the handshake with a small grin, and said, "Alright. What are your powers anyway?" "I'm a pyrokinteic, sir." Dad looked confused, so Warren backed away and then ignited his hands. Dad grinned widely and said, "Now I definitely trust you will keep her safe." before going upstairs.

We were alone in my living room, but there was something different, there was some sort of tension in the air. With my nerves almost getting the best of me, I turned to Warren and shyly said, "Hi." He grinned and pulled me into a hug, and said into my ear, "Hello. You ready to go?" I couldn't help but shiver at the feel of his warm breath on my neck and just nodded my head. Warren muffled a laugh as we walked to the front door. I playfully glared at him, but didn't say anything. I was just about to open the door, when I heard Mom running down the stairs yelling, "Wait! Wait up you guys!"

The both of us turned to see Mom nearly out of breath with a camera in her hand. I groaned and said, "Mom, really? It's not like this is Prom or anything." Warren laughed as Mom said, "I know, but I still want a picture. So I'm taking one. Ok, now you, handsome young Warren," she pointed to Warren, who had a smug grin on his face, "Put you arm around Serena's shoulder. And Serena sweetie you scoot in a bit." I sighed and did as I was told. Once Mom deemed us ready, she snapped a picture.

After a good 10 minutes, Mom finally stopped and let us go. "Sorry about that.." I mumbled as I closed the door behind me. Warren just shrugged and said, "It's alright. I'm sure Prom will be worse, this was nothing." I stopped dead in my tracks, then went after Warren, nonchalantly asking, "Are you implying that we're going to Prom together?" Again, he shrugged and said, "I thought it was already decided."

"Umm.." I trailed off, not really knowing what to say. _'Wait a minute, I shouldn't be letting him decide things for me.'_ But before I could open my mouth another thought popped into my head, _'I_ _don't want this to explode in my face. Not when we're on a date, for crying out loud.'_ I just wouldn't say anything else about Prom until the time came. We walked down my street a bit before Warren walked into the street and went around the side of a black car. "When did you get your license?" I asked as he unlocked the car and opened my door. _'Who said chivalry was dead.'_ I thought as I slid into the soft leather seat. I watched Warren walk around to his side of the car and get in before answering, "A few days ago, before I went to visit my dad. I'm borrowing my mom's car for the night, but I've been saving up to buy one for myself."

I nodded and said, "I'm sure the tips you get help a lot." He nodded in agreement and didn't say anything since he was focusing one the road. A moment of silence passed before I asked, "Where we going?"

"Not telling."

"Well why not?"

Warren glanced at me before turning back to the red light we had stopped at. "It's a surprise."

"Can I have a hint at least?" I asked with a grin.

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Not happening."

I frowned and watched as Warren turned left and kept driving before reaching over and turning the heater on. "Thanks." I murmured, it had been colder than I expected outside, and the car wasn't cold to Warren because of his powers. I looked out the window and saw we were driving out of the residential area and into the city. Soon Warren drove us down a freeway, and we spent the 30-minute drive talking the whole time. We mainly argued about music we considered good,and what was crap. Turns out, we like some of the same bands, but differ on sort of genre is better. We had been talking about what was better, new-age metal, or old classic metal. "New metal-if you can even call it that-is so fucking dumb though, I don't get how people like it. It's all the same break downs, head banging. It doesn't compare to classic, _real_ metal." Warren explained when I'd asked him which he preferred.

After thinking about it for a moment, I conceded, "You're right.. They shouldn't even call it metal. But that's how people label them and whatnot. I mean, I like the bands that are in that "genre" of music, but I don't think they really count. On the other hand, music is supposed to progress and continue to grow. So if we sit here complaining and comparing the new and old, it's not really getting us anywhere, is it? We just sound like old people."

Warren grinned and said, "Exactly. So now you see my point. And now, we have to bring this conversation to an end."

"Why?" I asked with a small whine.

"We're here." Warren stated dryly. I looked out the window and realized that we had driven out of the big city and were in the parking lot of a restaurant in a small town.

**...Warren's PoV...**

I led Serena down the sidewalk before we got to the restaurant. We had had to park a while away, since there were so many cars in the parking lot, and all the good spots were taken. Serena looked around, admiring the other shops next to the building. A host greeted us once we went inside and led us to a table near one of the many huge windows. We were handed menus as we sat down across from each other.

We continued our conversation from earlier as we looked over the menu, and I couldn't help but feel nervous. I had butterflies-no, pterodactyls in my stomach, as much as I hated to admit that I was feeling this way around a girl. Thankfully I forgot my nerves after a while and relaxed a bit. Soon a waiter came over and greeted us with a smile, saying, "Good evening, My name is John and I'll be your waiter. Are you ready to order?" I nodded my head and Serena said she was. We ordered our food and the the waiter left soon after. _'Oh God..what do we talk about now?'_ I couldn't think of anything to say, and soon felt like there was pressure on me from every side, trying to get me to say something, anything. After a moment's panic I blurted out, "You look really pretty tonight." Seeing Serena's surprised expression made me grin sheepishly.

"Thanks, Warren. I should say the same to you, but my mom did that earlier." Serena said with a small grin.

I snorted and said, "I'd still like to hear it from you though."

She playfully glared at me and I just smirked. Serena then jokingly made a face and relented, saying, "You look very dashing tonight Warren."

My smirk grew and I sat up straighter in my chair, puffing out my chest as she lightly laughed. We settled into easy conversation and playful banter as the waiter brought our food and as we ate. Serena soon excused herself to go to the restroom, so I sat back and looked through the dessert menu. Glancing up randomly, I saw someone who looked familiar walk into the ladies room after Serena. My eyes narrowed as I got a good look at her. _'She's that girl that introduced herself to me..Madi, was it?'_

**...Serena's PoV...**

I looked into the sink to examine my make-up after washing my hands, and I saw someone come into the restroom. Figuring she'd go into a stall, I ignored her until I felt her tap my shoulder from my right side. Quickly turning I asked, "Hello, is there something I can help you with?"

The girl nodded and said, "My name's Madison, I go to Sky High with you." She said the last part of her sentence in a hushed voice.

I nodded and glanced around, then quietly said, "I don't think I know you..what grade are you in?"

"I'm a senior this year. I just wanted to tell you a few things about things that I've picked up."

I gave her a questioning look and she said, "I'm a telepath, but I'm in Hero Support because I can only read people's thoughts when they're loud enough." I nodded and asked, "So what is it you need to tell me?"

She looked at me hesitantly and said, "Well..first off, good news," I nodded for her to go on and she continued, "I can hear yours and Warren's thoughts from across the restaurant and he _really_ likes you. So you don't have to worry about getting rejected." She finished with a dismissive raise of her eyebrows.

"What's the second thing?"

Madison snapped out of whatever thought she was in and said, "Oh, yes. I'm more or less friends with Jessica.." she glanced at me and hastily continued, "She's been going on about how she's going to do whatever it takes to get Warren."

'_Not this again..'_ I groaned in annoyance, but quickly asked, "How do I know you're not lying?"

"Well," Madison reasoned, "Her thoughts are like always on scream mode or something. I can't _not_ hear her thoughts, even when she's not talking about stupid ways to get to him. It's annoying, really."

"Ohh. I hope she doesn't try to do anything stupid." I gave Madison a worried look. "Do you think she will?"

Madison waved her hand in a dismissive manner, saying, "Oh, no no. You've got nothing to worry about. I already told you, Warren really likes you. He hasn't even looked at other girls. Trust me." Her eyes went to the floor. _'Oh God..oh God..what do I say? Am I even supposed to comfort her?'_ I looked around quickly, then finally met her eye and said, "I'm really, genuinely sorry."

She smiled and replied, "It's no problem. That was a while ago, and I've already got my eye on someone else. All I can say is, good luck trying to keep Jessica off Warren once school starts again. The school's practically gonna be covered with ice and snow. She'll have the upper hand if she resorts to fighting." Madison gave me another smile before walking out of the restroom.

I turned back to the mirror and stared at my reflection. _'Should I tell Warren?'_

We'd been sitting and waiting for the waiter to bring the check for a while when Warren asked me if something was wrong. I furrowed my brow slightly and said, "No, everything's fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you didn't eat much of your dessert. Is your stomach upset?"

I shook my head, saying, 'No, it's fine. I guess the food made me more full than I thought. I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Umm..I don't really know."

Warren eyed me suspiciously, but didn't say anything else. Soon he paid for dinner and we were back in his car, driving towards Maxville. The ride was silent for the most part, until Warren asked, "Did I do something?"

I turned to him and asked back, "What are you talking about?"

"You were fine before you came out of the restroom. After that you weren't talking as much and this whole ride has been quiet. I just want to know if I did something. Or if that girl said anything to you in the bathroom."

"Umm..she did tell me something. But it wasn't bad..at least, I hope it won't be."

Warren made a motion for me to keep talking while he was concentrating on the road. I said, "She wanted to let me know that Jessica said she'll do anything it takes to get you away from me once school starts up again." Warren snorted at that and said, "Like that's gonna happen." I felt a warm feeling grow inside me, what Madison had said was true. "How do you know this girl wasn't lying?"

I shrugged and said, "She's a telepath and she said that Jessica's thoughts are near impossible to drown out. That's how she knows about whatever it is Jessica's got thought up."

"Well," Warren started, then he reached over and took one of my hands in his, rubbing it softly with his thumb, "You have nothing to worry about. Alright?" I couldn't help but smile and say, "Alright." Warren grinned at me and squeezed my hand before letting it go and putting his own back on the steering wheel.

A few minutes later we were pulling up to my house and were then walking up to the front porch. I wrapped my arms around Warren's neck and hugged him, saying softly, "I had a great time. Thank you for everything." He had started to reply when my dad yelled from the second floor window, "I better not have to go down there and separate you two!" I sighed and dropped my head onto Warren's shoulder, silently asking why my dad was so overprotective as I also heard some stomping. All of a sudden Mom yelled loud enough for us to hear, "Don't you dare go down those stairs, Adam! I will haul you right back up if you interrupt those two!"

"Oh my God..could this be any more embarrassing?" I muttered into Warren's shoulder. He laughed and held me tighter before saying, "I think it's time I go." I held onto him a bit longer before unhooking my arms from around his neck and smiling at him. Warren grinned and kissed my cheek before letting me go. I pouted, "What? That's it?"

He chuckled and said, "I think I'll be safer if your dad didn't come and yank open the door on us."

"Nah, Mom won't let him." I grinned as Warren wrapped his arms around me again and bent his head so his lips could meet mine. We kissed slowly, and I sighed and he deepened the kiss by tilting his head and sliding his tongue over my bottom lip. Just as I was going to open my mouth in response, I heard feet coming towards the front door. Warren reluctantly pulled back and I tried to control my heavy breathing. We listened quietly for any indication that the door would burst open, but there wasn't one. I turned to Warren and smiled, and he quickly kissed me again before letting me go. "Goodnight." he said, before turning and walking to his car. I softly called out, "Goodnight!"

**A/N: What'd you all think? :) Review please! Oh, I'm pretty sure I caught all the little mistakes in there, let me know if I missed anything!**


	23. Back to School Bruises

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I'm going to try and update as much as possible with whatever free time I have which will primarily be from 8-5 or 6 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. *Fists pumps* **

**Chapter 23: Back to School Bruises**

**...Warren's Pov...**

School was starting to pass by in a blur of homework and tests. Since we'd been back in classes, teachers started piling on the work, both to be done in class and at home. We'd been in school for not even a week when we got our schedule for first semester finals, which were supposed to happen around mid-January. I slumped down at the lunch table, thinking,_'Thank God it's Thursday at least, one more day until I can relax.'_Serena took a seat to my right so she was on the edge of the table, and she was followed by Will and Layla, who sat opposite us. According to Layla, Hero Support was also getting mountains of work to do to prepare for the exams. She had been offered to join the Hero class over Thanksgiving break, but she had denied and stayed in Hero Support. Magenta soon joined us and was ranting about how she hoped the written parts of the exams would be easier than the practical. Everyone sat, wondering what the practical portion of testing would be like, when I remembered that Serena had been at the civilian high school freshman and sophomore year, of course she wouldn't know what they were like.Zach asked me if I could explain what they would be like, and I began to tell them. "Well, written parts are distributed by each of your teachers for the subjects you're taking. But you only have to do the practical part for Boomer. Umm.." I wracked my brain, trying to remember what they had been like the year before, "I think it's different for whatever track you're in, but Hero class has to compete in a giant round of Save the Citizen. Hero Support does their own on a different day. If I remember correctly, instead of two-on-two, it's one-on-one, and whoever wins has to keep going until they're unable to compete. You get scored on how many rounds you win without collapsing." The looks Will and Serena were giving me were anything but excited.

Magenta asked, "How many rounds did you win last year?"

"I won fourteen. I would've won fifteen if it hadn't been for Jessica. Our powers cancel each other out, so neither of us won."

Will asked, "That's a lot, right? Like that's good?"

I nodded and said, "More or less. I got a B, but I could've done better. It just wears you out, depending on who you're up against; you either just barely beat them, or finish it easily. But you'll be drained by the time it's over because you only get a five minute break in between matches."

Serena piped up, "Is it just against the class you're in, like freshman against freshman**, **or is it the entire Hero class?"

"It's the entire Hero class. There can be freshman pitted against seniors, then juniors, then fellow freshman. It's all randomly picked by Boomer."

Layla and Serena looked angry at this, and Layla interjected, "But that's not fair, having a freshman still developing his or her powers fighting a senior who's had years to hone them. That's setting them up for failure!"

I shrugged and said, "That's just the way it's always been, and believe me, I know it's not fair. My freshman year I was up against a junior who had some sort of foresightability. He could interpret all of my moves before I even thought of them myself. I washed out of that one, that had only been my third round, too."

"Well no one's ever complained about this?"

"Nope," I said, after swallowing my bite of sandwich, "No one complains because Boomer doesn't like 'whiner babies'. Parents have tried to talk to him after seeing their kid failed because they were forced to fight a senior as a sophomore, but he just doesn't listen."

"Principal Powers hasn't tried to stop him?" asked Will.

"I have no idea about that. I'm not even sure she knows about it."

Layla huffed in anger and went to throw away her trash. Serena bit her lip and looked like she was concentrating on something, and that something looked like it worried her. _'She must be thinking about her powers and how she'll compete.'_

During free period, I had been watching Serena practice flying from the library's windows, when Jessica came up to me. "Hey Warren." she greeted me cheerfully as she stopped in front of the table I was sitting at. I glanced at her and said in a monotone voice, "Afternoon."

"How was your break?"

I shrugged and turned back to my homework, saying, "It wasn't too bad. Yours?"

"Mine was great! I went to visit my cousins in Minnesota, it was really beautiful up there..." Jessica continued to tell me about her break, while I gave up listening and went to tuning her out. A short while later I heard her say, "Warren..did you listen to anything I just said?"

"Er..sorry, I didn't."

She huffed and frowned at me. "That's really rude of you. I was going to ask if you wanted to maybe hang out sometime. Go to the movies or something. So..what do you say?"

'_Oh God..this is not happening right now.'_ I stayed quiet for a minute, before slowly saying, "Sure, I'll tell Will and Layla and everyone so we can all go."

"Ahh, I was thinking more along the lines of just the two of us going, like a date." she smiled at me.

"Ohh, you meant a date." I looked around, trying to think of an answer to that.

I spoke in a drawl, "I don't know, Jessica. I'm already seeing someone."

Jessica scoffed and said. "Oh, that doesn't matter. She'll never find out." she crooned the last part into my ear. Her close proximity and the cold radiating off her made me move away. "It may not matter to you, but it does to me." I started to heat up a bit, just to keep her from getting close again. Jessica didn't, but instead put her hand on my forearm and said sweetly, "But Warren, I don't think you understand. I just want one date, that's all I ask." As she was saying this, her hand started to spread ice on my arm, which I quickly melted away. Jessica noticed this; she smirked and continued, "Don't you see? We're perfect for each other. You're the tall, dark, brooding fire element. I'm the small, blonde, ice element. Even our powers go well together. You and Serena will never be as compatible as we are."

I fought back the urge to roll my eyes and said, "That's what you think. Personally, I don't like the cold. I prefer someone with body heat."

She gasped and I almost grinned at the shocked look on her face. "Didn't mean to be so harsh, but I don't like you that way. Actually, I don't like you at all. Now if you'll please," I gathered my things from the table and put them into my backpack, "Leave me alone."

I stood up from the table and left her there. I was walking toward the door, when I heard Jessica say, "You'll see why I'm the better choice. Just wait." Deciding to ignore her, I left and walked through the hallways to get to my locker.

**...During Save the Citizen...**

We were all watching Larry battle Eric as the villain, it was a pretty intense match, but soon Eric was able to win. I was seated on Serena's left, with Magenta and Zach on her right. Layla, Will, and Ethan were sitting on the bench above ours. I listened to see who Boomer would call down next; he soon yelled out, "Warren, you'll be the villain. Get down here." Serena rubbed my arm and wished me luck as I stood up. As I walked down to get my armor, Boomer called out, "James, you'll be hero! Suit up." I almost missed a step when I heard that. James was in Hero class and in my year; he could shoot energy beams from his hands. Soon I was standing in the arena, facing James, who was on the other side. I nodded to him in acknowledgment, and he did the same. Boomer called out, "Ready.. Set.. BATTLE!"

At first, James didn't do anything. Shooting beams didn't mean he could get the dummy down from the rope. Without thinking, I hurled a fireball at him, and hurled another as the first singed his left arm. The second one hit him in the chest and he staggered back. I looked at the dummy and saw it slowly being lowered. My job was to keep James from getting the thing. _'This shouldn't be too hard. How else can he get it down? If he cuts the rope, he's just gonna make it fall faster. There's no way he'd do that.'_ I quickly ducked as a beam of red was coming at me.

There was 1 minute left on the clock, and so far I had succeeded in keeping James from getting the "citizen", but hadn't been able to immobilize him. I hurled a huge fireball at him and then threw a few more smaller ones. James got out of the huge one's way, but the smaller ones hit him in the chest, leg, and stomach. We were both breathing hard by then, and frustrated because neither one of us could get the upper hand. He shot beam after beam at me, one missed and burned a spot on a dumpster behind me, but 2 of them hit me in the chest. I winced when I felt the injuries sting, and then I felt warmth pooling onto my uniform underneath my armor. _'Ah great, blood.'_ In retaliation, I ran at him with my forearm and fist covered in flames, aiming to punch him in the stomach. When I got near enough, I jerked my arm up towards his face and swung, hitting James square in the jaw. He staggered back, and I called out, "Sorry if I burned you. I didn't mean to heat up so much." James nodded, clutching his face and said, "No worries. Just know I'm getting you back!"

I grinned and chanced a look at the clock, then said, "Good luck doing that in-" but was cut off as he shot beams all over my torso, sending me falling backwards. I took a deep breath and felt the fire in me coming up, engulfing my arms, shoulders, and slowly spreading down to my torso. I got into a crouching position, then rushed at him with my arms out, tackling him to the ground. Before things could go any further, Boomer called out, "Time's up! James, you failed to save your citizen. Good job Hot-head. Both of you go and see Nurse Spex." We both shook hands and grinned, then went to the locker room to change back into our regular clothes.

When I got out on the other side of the locker room, Serena was waiting for me. She smiled at me and said, "You guys were great! Everyone was watching, betting on who would win!" I thanked her, then we started walking to the nurse's office. I held my shirt away from my chest and stomach as far as possible since I didn't want the cloth to irritate the open cuts. Serena asked me, "How bad are you hurt?" I just shrugged, replying, "Not too bad. I got some cuts and they hurt a bit, but I don't want the cloth to make it hurt even more, and I don't want blood to get on my shirt either." She looked worried, but didn't say anything.

Sitting on the cot in Nurse Spex's office, I winced as she dabbed at the gash near my collar bone. Once I'd told her where James had gotten me, she used her powers to see if anything was broken or damaged. Seeing that some injuries were particularly deep, she told me I'd have to take my shirt off so she could get a better look. I couldn't help but smirk to myself at the look on Serena's face when I took my shirt off. Her eyes had widened and she'd quickly looked down, before glancing at me and then looking down again. "Well, this one's clean, but you're going to need stitches on it. I'll do it right now so you don't have to worry about it later." I nodded as she moved onto the other gash with a cotton ball and antiseptic in hand. Serena was sitting in one of the chairs, quietly watching. I asked, "Do any of the ones on my stomach need stitches?"

"Nope, you're good on those. Just a simple bandage will do.." she trailed off as she wiped at my shoulder, "You'll have to be careful for a few days. Don't move too much or twist in any way that may cause them to reopen once they scab over." I sighed in acceptance and stretched out onto the cot so Nurse Spex could clean my stomach better. Soon Nurse Spex got out supplies from a cupboard and was getting them ready while saying, "I haven't had to do this in a long time, my dear, but since the risk of getting it taken care of later is too great, you're gonna have to bare with me."

"Umm..ok." I muttered. I grimaced once I felt the needle pierce my skin, and tried to keep still. I felt a hand touch my shoulder and looked to see that Serena had rolled her chair over to sit next to me. I shivered as she softly traced patterns on my skin with her fingers. Wherever he fingers touched, I felt like I was going to ignite; it felt _good_. _'This is not happening. Not now.' _ I thought as I tried to calm down. She kept her hand on my shoulder as Nurse Spex worked on fixing me. Closing my eyes, I was still trying to relax as I heard Serena start a quiet conversation with the elderly woman. "What sorts of injuries have you dealt with before, ma'am?"

"Oh, no need to call me ma'am, dear. Well, I've dealt with quite a few different injuries. One of the most memorable ones was about five or six years ago. His name was John Farr if I'm not mistaken. He'd gotten into a fight with a senior who could control others using telepathy. John himself, he was an electrokinteic. These two boys exchanged a few insults, and then they started to fight. John decided to use his power and tried to electrocute the boy, but at the last second, his mind was taken over and he shocked himself. Poor boy had to walk around school with burn marks on his face and arms for a few months, and all his peers made fun of him after that." Nurse Spex started to chuckle but then quickly stopped.

**...Serena's PoV...**

Watching Nurse Spex work was really interesting. She was elderly, yeah, but she had a steady hand while stitching up Warren. As we were talking, I couldn't help but admire Warren's extremely toned body. I paid attention to the conversation, but kept watching the way his muscles moved as he slowly breathed. There were hardy any imperfections on his body, except for the cuts and bruises caused by today's match. Soon Nurse Spex had to check on James's burns, so she left and said she'd be back to finish cleaning Warren's gash that needed just a few more stitches. I went back to lightly drawing designs across his shoulder, and he shivered. I frowned as he opened his eyes and peered up at me. "Don't do that." Warren quietly mumbled.

Still frowning slightly, I asked, "Why? Does it hurt there too?"

"No.."

"Then what's wrong?"

Warren glanced at me and then sat up as far as he could. I leaned closer so I could hear what he was going to say. "Nothing," he said in a low voice, "I just don't want to the nurse to come back in here and find me all over you." My eyes widened and I felt my mouth open. I quickly shut it and bit my lip as he lay back down with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Warren watched me with a dark look in his eye, and I couldn't help but stare back. We sat like that for a few moments and before I knew what I was doing, I leaned down and kissed him. He immediately responded, kissing me back with demanding yet soft lips. After what felt like a lifetime of heated kissing, I snapped out of it and reluctantly pulled away, gasping for air. Warren had that smirk on his face again until I rolled my eyes and said, "Enough with that smirk, hot shot."

He laughed at me until he flinched because of the cuts on him. "That's what you get." I said as I tried to hold in a laugh of my own. Warren narrowed his eyes at me and lay down again, in an attempt to get him to stop I leaned down to kiss his cheek, but he turned his head at the last second and kissed me again. I pulled away with a curse, saying, "Warren, what the hell?" He shrugged and said, "Couldn't help it."

I sighed in disbelief and rolled my chair away so I was against the wall again. A few seconds later, Nurse Spex came in and finished stitching Warren up. As she cleaned up, she told us we could leave, and told Warren to take pain medicine when he got home. I got our backpacks and helped him stand up off the cot, and then walked with him to the door once he put his shirt back on. With a "thank you" to the nurse, we walked down the hall and to Warren's locker. He opened it and got what he needed for homework, then motioned for me to start heading towards my own locker. Once I got to mine, I quickly got the binders and textbooks I needed and exchanged them for the ones I didn't need. As we were walking back to the gym, the bell rang and everyone started rushing down the hall, trying to get away as fast as possible. We both waited until we saw our friends and started back down the hall when they reached us.

It was too windy and cold to fly, so I got on the bus to my neighborhood and Warren followed since he was coming over to help me again with Mad Science. We sat down across the aisle from Ethan, with Ryan next to him. Everyone was going to go over to Will's house, and we were going to catch up to them once I finished my homework, since my parents had decided I couldn't hang out with anyone unless all my homework was finished first. Once the bus got to my stop, we got off the bus and trudged through the snow to my house. After taking our coats off and hanging them up, I led Warren into the kitchen so we'd have room to spread out our books.

"This is so annoying. Why would someone who can already create force fields need a shield?" I groaned out loud. Warren rolled his eyes and said, "It's obvious. If you haven't developed your powers fully, then you'd need a shield that can protect you."

"Well I still think it's stupid." I muttered, even though his explanation made sense.

I heard him sigh and turned to face Warren. He looked really tired, like he hadn't slept too well in a couple of days. "You ok?" I asked softly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just sick of this cold weather."

"Is it affecting your powers?"

"Sort of. My body temperature is obviously hotter than the average person's, but I still train outside on the weekends."

I thought for a moment before asking, "There's no where you can practice safely inside, is there?"

Warren shook his head and replied, "Being outside has taken it's toll on me." I scooted closer to him and felt him hide his face in my neck. I leaned my cheek against his hair and said, "Once winter leaves you'll feel better than ever, Warren." He answered by wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer. "Are you still up for going to Will's? Even though we'll have to walk?" I felt him nod and then he kissed my neck. Shivers went down my neck and he kissed me there again. "Warren." I whined a bit, "we have to leave so-" My breath left me as his tongue slid up my neck. I tried to stifle a groan as he repeated the action, and barely held it in. Warren kissed and licked up my neck as I arched my neck to give him better access. I gasped out, "We have to go to Will's house." Warren paid the statement no mind as he nibbled on my flesh. Thinking he had raised his head to kiss me, I leaned forward to close the distance faster, when he suddenly froze. Trying to clear my head, I gazed at him and found he had a Cheshire Cat-like grin on his face.

I looked questioningly at him and was about to ask why he had stopped, when he said, "That was pay back for earlier." My mouth opened in shock and I glared at him, saying, "That's hardly fair. I didn't..didn't do what you did to me." I finally managed to spit out. Warren's grin didn't leave his face as he replied, "You may as well have. Now come on, let's go to Will's house before everyone starts to think we were too busy to hang out with them." He started packing up his books and papers while I sat there, still in a small state of shock. As I started cleaning up my own things, I said, "Well those last few minutes might beg to differ." Warren laughed at that and reached over to push my hair away from my neck, when his smile turned into a smirk. I glared sightly at him and said, "What is it..?" as he lead to a mirror in the hall. I froze as I saw a small red and purple spot on my neck. "Oh no.." I groaned and hid my face in my hands. "No no no no no, this can't be." Warren nudged me and I turned to him with a glare that could freeze over Hell. "What's the matter?" Warren asked slowly as he backed away from me.

I slowly walked toward him as he moved further away, saying, "What's the matter? The matter is, you gave me a hickey!"

Warren was against the wall now, and I was directly in front of him."So?" he asked innocently.

"You gave me a hickey. My parents are going to kill me. And possibly you as well, Warren."

**A/N: I reaally want to write more but I also don't want to keep you guys waiting any longer. Reviews would really make my day! :) **

**Just a notice: I didn't mean for this chapter to be so..lemony(?) I'm not familiar with fanfic terms.. Um but yeah, they kinda just sprung that on me. I'm not really sure what the limits are for the 'T' ratings, so if someone could help me with that so I don't accidentally go overboard. Obviously I know there are certain things I can't put in a 'T' rated story. Again, if someone could help me with that, thank you!**


	24. Wake Up

**A/N: Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing! It makes me happy to know so many of you are still reading this. :) Also, I hope you all understand my late updates. I got the bright idea of writing two stories at once.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High or any of its characters except my own.**

**Chapter 24: Wake Up**

**...Serena's PoV...**

_...Flashback..._

_All of us in Hero Track were waiting for one of the competitors to lose or knock each other out. Will had been going against nearly everyone since Round 3 and now Round 19 was drawing to a close. I thought he would be unbeatable, until a senior who could manipulate air stopped him at the last second from reaching the dummy. Everyone watched with bated breath as Will was thrown off course and slammed into the arena floor. Boomer named the senior the winner, and now everyone else had to go up against him as the hero. _

_We were now on Round 26, and the boy remained un-defeated. He smirked as Boomer named him the winner again, and waited for the break to be over before facing his next opponent. For a few minutes, all of us were a bit frightened of going against him, even the other seniors looked a bit weary. All of a sudden, Boomer shouted, "Serena! Get your gear on!" I groaned and stood up from my seat next to Warren. He squeezed my hand in assurance, while Will and the other boys wished me luck and patted my back. I went down into the locker room and put on the protective body armor. _

_I went out to the arena and waited for Boomer to start us off. He asked us if we're both ready, and then yelled out, "BATTLE!" The boy sent up gusts of wind at me, flipping me over and then dropped me onto my back. I hissed in pain, then got up and ran at him while my wings came out of my back. I made them stiff so they'd be sharp and heavy, hopefully weighing me down enough so he couldn't throw me around. I kept running, even with the weight of my wings slowing me down. _

_I finally saw my chance-as I'd been attempting to fly but would get tossed around-to get the dummy. There was one minute and a few seconds left, so I decided to risk it and fly. I spread my wings and they started flapping, trying to get off the ground. The wind the senior was sending at me kept blowing me further and further away from the dummy, and I made an attempt to stiffen my wings again, but realized I would only fall if I did so. Flapping as hard as I could, I strained to reach the dummy before it fell. Then, a powerful blast of wind sent me hurtling back, and I slammed into the cement pillar above plexiglass wall, my head hitting it the hardest. Groaning in pain and dizziness, I fell to the ground in a heap_, _covered myself with my wings_, _and let the darkness envelop me. _

_...End Flashback..._

'**I knew this would happen, we shouldn't have left her.' A voice said in my head.**

'Oh stop it, you knew why it had to be done.' There was a second voice that replied.

Neither of them were mine.

'_What's going on?' I thought to myself. The last thing I could remember was going down the bleachers to get ready for Save the Citizen._

'**You've been passed out for a few days, that's all.' The first voice answered.**

'_Who are you? War-Warren?' I was getting scared. What were these voices doing in my head? Did I go insane when I hit my head and start hearing voices? How do they know what I_'m thinking?

'All will be answered in time. But for now relax, sweetheart, and rest..' The second voice gently said to me. It was as if someone had whispered it into my ear, softly crooning it over and over as I drifted into darkness again.

**...**

I woke up to the face of a woman who looked like she was happy all the time. Great. "Good morning, dear." She chirped happily to me, "My name is Vicki. I'm glad to see you're finally awake. I'll go call the doctor and tell him you're up." She left with a smile and I blinked a few times before taking in my surroundings. I was in a hospital room, with all sorts of tubes hooked up to me and heart monitor going steadily next to my bed.

After examining the room I was in, I leaned back into my pillows and sighed. _'What the hell happened?' I thought to myself. _

'**Glad to know you're awake.' said a voice in my head. **

"What the hell?" I asked aloud. "Who said that?" I looked around my room but no one was there, and the doctor had yet to come in. I stayed tense a few more moments, but when nothing else happened, I slowly sank down into my pillows.

'Way to go, smart one. You scared her.' Another voice, again! The heart monitor next to me started beating faster as I got more panicked.

'**Calm down, or you'll have a heart attack.' the first voice said in what seemed to be a gruff voice. **

I took some deep breaths and slowly calmed down. **'Good. Now we can explain what's going on.'**

"What is there to explain?" I asked in a shaky voice.

'There's no need to speak out loud. We can understand you perfectly in your thoughts.'

'**Plus, you won't look crazy.'**

'Shut up, you can't be rude to our host.'

'_..Can someone tell me what's going on? Who are_ _you and why are you talking to me in my head?'_

'**Me first. Ok, you remember what your friend's grandma told you about your powers? How they're not really super powers, but are entities?'**

'_Yes..'_

'**Well, we're the entities. My name is Ashoka, I'm the wolf you turn into.'**

'I'm Gabriel, the lion you morph into. It's a pleasure to finally speak to you, Serena.'

'_...I need a moment to absorb this.' I leaned further back into my pillows and thought I was going to pass out or something from this news. It was just so..unbelievable. _

'**It's ok. Hosts always find it hard to believe us.'**__said Ashoka in a matter-of-fact way_._

'_Hey..why did you two leave?' _I asked as the doctor came in and flashed me a smile. "Good morning, Serena. Glad to see you're awake_, _I'm Dr. Andrews."

I greeted him quietly and he said, "There's a nasty bump on your head from that fall. Although it wasn't bad enough to make you go into a small coma."

'That was us, we needed you to be well-rested before we came back.' piped up Gabriel.

I half-listened as Dr. Andrews went on about my injuries. He told me that I bruised a few ribs and broke two bottom ones, and had also sprained my wrist from falling on it. Dr. Andrews told me he was going to run a few more tests to make sure I was fit to go home, then I would be released.

"Wait, sir, can I call my parents and have them come get me?"

"Oh, there's no need to worry. As soon as the nurse told me you awoke, I called your parents to let them know you were getting ready to go home."

I grinned and thanked him, then wondered, _'Am I in a civilian hospital? Or a super hospital?'_

'You're in a civilian one, your parents thought it best to have you taken care of here.'

He soon left me alone. I stared at the television absentmindedly, wondering what everyone had done over the weekend, when I noticed there were a few cards on the table beside my bed. Wondering how I didn't notice them before, I moved closer to the side of the bed, and reached as far as I could to grab them.

The first card from the small pile was from Layla. It was decorated with flowers and ivy bordering the edges.

It said, in pretty handwriting, _'Dear Serena, I visited today and yesterday, but you still haven't woken up so I'm leaving this card in case you do wake up and I'm not here. Let me know as soon as you go home! Love, Layla.'_

The next card was from Will, who wrote about what happened after I blacked out, and said he hoped I hadn't broken too many bones, and couldn't wait till I went back to school.

Cards from Ethan, Magenta and Zach, and even Ryan, Eric, Michael, Damon, and James were in the pile. All of them wished me a speedy recovery and sent me their encouragement. I was stacking all the cards in my lap, since I'd spread them out before me, and when I reached to put them back on the table, I saw a small folded piece of lined paper. _'This one's from Warren.' I smiled to myself and unfolded his paper. 'Wake up.- Warren.' I let out a small laugh and said, _"Oh, he would do something like this." Scanning the paper, there was a small P.S. at the bottom, _'Please.' I smiled and put the note down on top of the stack. _

Hearing a knock at the door, I called to them that the door was open. I grinned as Mom and Dad walked in, both with flowers and Mom was holding a small teddy bear. We hugged and they both kissed my cheeks, Mom kept fretting and asking if I was feeling ok. After assuring her I was fine, I asked what had happened while I was asleep. Dad explained that the school had alerted them to what had happened, and asked if they wanted me to be transferred to a civilian hospital or a super one. Mom made the decision, and I was brought to the Maxville City Hospital for care. Everything had been fixed nearly as soon as I was admitted, they had just been waiting for me to wake up. It was now Sunday morning, so I would be going back to school tomorrow.

An hour later I was showered and dressed in sweats and a loose shirt, sitting in the living room at home with almost all my friends. I had called Layla as soon as I was home and clean (not showering for three days..ugh), and she let everyone know. Warren couldn't come because he had to help close the restaurant, so I wouldn't be able to see him until tomorrow. I didn't tell anyone about the spirits that could now speak to me in my thoughts, and the two entities seemed fine with that, and seemed to like my friends.

'**Your friend Will is really humorous.' Ashoka observed as Will was currently telling us a funny story involving him and his dad trying to fix the roof on Saturday **in the cold. Magenta snorted at Will which caused everyone else to start laughing before he even finished the story.

'_Yep, him and Zach are really funny.' I replied to him in my head, careful not to say it out loud. _

I went into the kitchen to put away some of the empty cups, and as I was walking back to the living room, the door bell could be heard loudly. Turning around, I went to see who it was.

**A/N: Thank you guys for reading. I can't apologize enough for the long updates and the shortness of this chapter. If you have any questions regarding this chapter or anything just PM me. Thank you, you beautiful people. :)**


	25. Back Again

**A/N: Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing! :) Hearing what you have to say makes me feel like I'm doing something right.**

**Chapter 25: Back Again**

**...Serena's PoV...**

I opened the door and saw, to my surprise, Chantal and her grandmother, Rita. I smiled and said, "Well this is an unexpected-but pleasant visit. Please, come in." I held the door wider for the two to pass. Rita shook her head and said, "Oh, I'm sorry dear but we can't stay. I just wanted to tell you something."

I looked at her expectantly, then glanced at Chantal, who had a knowing look on her face.

"Congratulations, sweetie." Rita said with a warm smile as she stepped forward to give me a hug.

I hesitantly wrapped my arms around her and asked, "Umm..what are you talking about?"

"About you powers, dear! It's obvious they're back! And you've met your spirits, oh this is wonderful." The elderly woman beamed at me and sighed as she stepped back.

"How is it obvious?"

"Your eyes, they're different." Chantal handed me a compact mirror. I looked at my irises **(A/N: I don't know the proper term..)**, and saw that my eyes were once again a mix of gold and yellow. I grinned as I handed the compact to Chantal and turned towards Rita.

"But how do you know I've met my spirits?"

"Everyone knows, dear." She said with a wink. "Well, any shape-shifter like you would know."

I nodded slowly, and then asked, "Should I tell my friends about them?"

"No. You can't tell anyone about the spirits you communicate with. Otherwise things can go terribly wrong."

"Like what things..?" I asked suspiciously.

Rita sighed, "Don't worry about it. Only tell your friends that you got your powers back. Now, we must be going. We have reservations at a very up-scale restaurant, it only took 4 months to get them!" she finished with a laugh. I chuckled and waved bye to her and Chantal as they walked to their car. Closing the door and going back to the living room, I sighed and tried to forget about what I had been told until a later time.

**...Warren's PoV...**

Knowing Serena was out of the hospital and ok made me happy, but knowing I wouldn't be able to see her until tomorrow was torture. I tried to busy myself with wiping down tables and picking up plates, but it was a slow night, so not many people were here. After finishing what had to be done in the front area, I went to the kitchen to start doing the dishes.

**...The next day...**

I woke and did the usual morning routine of showering and getting ready for school. But I did it with a small smile the whole time, because I'd be seeing Serena today. Mom wouldn't stop teasing me while I ate breakfast, she kept pestering me with questions and wore a knowing smirk on her face. When it was finally time to walk to the bust stop, she told me to tell Serena she said hi as I walked out the door.

Scanning the hallways as soon as I got inside the school, I spotted Serena standing with Layla where most of the freshman lockers were. Something about her looked different, but I couldn't tell what it was. Despite my excitement, I was surprisingly calm as I walked over to where they were standing. A few kids scrambled to get out of my way, and then I was hugging Serena like there was no tomorrow. She laughed lightly and asked, "Have a nice weekend?"

I said, "It was terrible."

Serena pulled back to look at me, her smile slowly fading. I just stared back, not saying anything. After a few moments, Serena nodded in understanding and hugged me again.

Classes were boring as usual, they can't be fun on Mondays. A kid in History was doing an extra credit presentation so we didn't do anything that period except listen to him, but in Mad Science we had a pop quiz, and another one in Undercover Strategies. Everyone sighed in relief when the bell rang for lunch, and we all zoomed out class to get food. Will and I sat at our usual table and waited until everyone else got their meals. We were all talking about our weekends and how glad we were that finals were over, when Madison came over to our table. She smiled in greeting to everyone, then asked Serena if they could talk. I watched with narrow eyes as the two girls walked away.

Magenta saw me watching them speak in hushed tones, and snapped her fingers in front of my face, causing me to blink in surprise. "Hello, Warren! Snap out of it. Don't be so paranoid about her."

I glanced at the purple-clad girl and turned away to my food.

**...Serena's PoV...**

Madison looked at me with confusion and said, "I'm glad to see you're ok, but I have something to ask."

I nodded for her to continue, so she asked, "I can..hear a presence in your mind. Are you alright?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" I feigned ignorance.

"Well..it's just, I heard-at least I think I heard a separate voice in your head. One that's not yours.."

I shook my head and said, "I'm pretty sure I would know if there was a..voice in my head."

Madison nodded and replied, "Of course, I just wanted to let you know." She walked away after that.

'_Does she know about you two? I mean, if she can hear you..'_

'**Nah, we've got ourselves covered. You don't have to worry about anything.'**

'_You sure, Ashoka?'_

'**Yes I'm sure. Don't be so worried about it. No one knows about us except you, that old lady, and the blonde.'**

I heard Gabriel make a noise that sounded like a sigh. 'They have names, you know. Must you be so rude towards others all the time?'

'**No, but it's fun.'**

I had to stop myself from laughing too loud as I finished making my way to our table. I sat next back down next to Layla and finished my food with a small smile of amusement. Soon I was making plans with Magenta and Layla to go shopping sometime. We were trying to see what day would work best, when the bell rang and they had to leave for class. Warren and I walked into the school library as usual during the winter months, and while he did homework I pretended to doze off, when I was really talking to Gabriel and Ashoka.

'_Hey..so how long have you two been with me? And why didn't you talk to me before now?'_

'It's sort of..complicated. We've been with you since you were born, silently watching you grow and develop. You actually would've gotten the ability to morph later in life if Ashoka hadn't lost his temper.'

'**Oi, I had good reason. That girl was a complete-'**

'Yes, we were all there, we know. Anyways, Serena, we didn't speak with you until now because we didn't think you needed us.'

'_That makes sense. So, what exactly was going on whenever I morphed into you guys?'_

'**I can explain that. When you first morphed and were learning how to control and get used to the forms, we let you take over our shapes. It's sort of like, we were putting your** **mind into our bodies.'**

'_Oook, I get it now. What about if I morph now? I haven't tried to yet.'_

'**Now, it will be like our combined minds are in whichever body you shape-shift into. We'll be able to guide you, and tell you how to use the form to its fullest extent.'**

'_Sweet. This should be interesting! I'm excited to see how this turns out.'_

I could sense that Gabriel was about to reply, but the bell rang for us to go to our last class. I pretended to wake up and looked at Warren, who had apparently finished his homework and had been reading. He smiled and poked me, "Have a nice nap?" I rubbed my eyes and nodded.

**A/N: I'm sorry this is short, but I've had a lot going on. Hope you all enjoyed it at least! Reviews would be amazing. :)**


End file.
